6 arrested, 4 victims rescued in east metro sex sting

Six people are facing felony charges after they were arrested for attempting to solicit minors for sex or trafficking victims.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety stated Friday that a total of four victims were also recovered from trafficking situations.

Five people were booked on probable cause of felony solicitation of a minor under 18 years of age for prostitution. The sixth person was booked on probable cause of promotion of prostitution, sex trafficking.

The department explained that investigators with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)-led Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force, the East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force (EMSTTF) and the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST) Task Force carried out an operation from Wednesday to Thursday in Stillwater and St. Paul.

Those arrested and now charged are:

• Jeremiah Exzavier Brown, 31, of Eden Prairie,
• Michel Libese Mbula, 47, of Kansas City, Mo.,
• Jason J. Taylor, 47, of New Richmond, Wis.,
• Esteban Isaac Trejo-Dominguez, 21, of Columbia Heights,
• Daville Shalik Wideman, 23, of Memphis, Tenn.,
• Peng Yang, 28, of St. Paul.

In the release, Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said, “These arrests demonstrate that the market for juvenile commercial sex is not confined to limited segments of society.” He added, “The buyers come from all walks of life and each are responsible for the tremendous harm to the victims their families and the public that sex trafficking causes.”

“While this operation is over our work goes on. We will continue to pursue and arrest these criminals who exploit and victimize our children for sex,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans stated in the release.

DPS says many additional agencies, including Breaking Free, a victim advocate organization, lent resources to support the operation.