A Mamou native was arrested on Monday, May 14, 2018, and charged with human trafficking.
According to The Times Picayune, Dianna Viator, 31, is “accused of forcing an 18-year-old into prostitution at a Metairie hotel.”
She was arrested by deputies from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on a $25,000.00 bond.
The New Orleans newspaper reported, “Deputies took Viator into custody after the 18-year-old’s mother received a text from the teen asking for help, according to the arrest report. The teen, who is from New Iberia, told authorities she met Viator and another man at a Baton Rouge hotel several days ago.”
The message was sent after the teen was taken to a hotel on the 5900 block of Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie.
“The teen, who was ‘down on her luck’ and in need of a job, fell in with the pair,” continued the newspaper. “Viator and the man are accused of providing drugs to the teen and forcing her to go on prostitution dates, the report said.”
Viator and the male subject split the money that was made after each date.
It is also reported that the male subject “threatened to kill the teen if she ever left or stopped making money.”
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TONY MARKS