GREAT FALLS — A multi-agency human trafficking operation in Cascade County led to the arrests of five suspects on misdemeanor prostitution charges this weekend.
The two-day sting operation, according to a press release from Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, prompted the arrests of five individuals (four males and one female) — the majority of which have been released on their own recognizance.
Terry Francis McCann, 41; David Komesu Javner, 28; and Kurt Alan Anderson, 50, were charged with soliciting prostitution and released of their own recognizance. 48-year-old Paul George Waldner and 59-year-old Mark William Brothers were also charged with soliciting prostitution. Waldner was bonded out, and Brothers remains in custody on $585 bond.
According to the release, detectives with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office are “now following up on several leads that were developed from this operation.”
One arrest, in particular, led to a search warrant of the Touch of Class Massage Parlor located at #11 Division Road in Great Falls. CCSO detectives are “actively working this case” and will provide more information when the investigation is complete, the release stated.
The operation involved multiple agencies, including the CCSO, the Great Falls Police Department, the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, the Montana Division of Criminal Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Internet Crimes against Children Task Face.
Montana’s chief deputy attorney general, Jon Bennion, reportedly observed the operation and lauded the work of Montana’s 66th Legislature for providing funding to the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation “to assist and coordinate on human trafficking cases in local communities.”
“This is the first time the funding has been used and we are pleased with the multi-agency collaboration and success of this weekend’s operation,” Bennion said in the release.
Slaughter elaborated further, thanking the involved agencies for their commitment to the multi-agency operation and warning that those soliciting prostitution or sex slavery in Cascade County “will likely be arrested.”
“Cascade County will not tolerate this horrific and disturbing crime,” Slaughter wrote in the release. “We are committed to proactively investigating and holding those accountable that buy, sell or trade human beings for sex slavery.”
