Thirty arrested in prostitution sting; one had knife, rope, body bag

Bell County sheriff’s deputies assisted by officers from Bryan and Temple arrested 30 men in a two-day John suppression initiative aimed at arresting individuals seeking sex for money.

One of the 30, a Fort Hood soldier identified as Tyler Willison, had a knife, six strands of rope, duct tape and a body bag in his vehicle, authorities said Thursday.

They said he didn’t say what he was going to do with the items.

“The operation was conducted in two different areas in Bell County two different locations in the city of Temple,” the Bell County Sheriff’s Department said in a press release Thursday.

“The operation involved authorities placing ads on social media sites known to attract people interested in buying sex.”

The stings were conducted on Feb. 1 and on Tuesday.

Among those arrested were businessmen, four Fort Hood soldiers, two men who are currently on probation for unrelated offenses and three who were transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

"As sheriff, my goal is to focus our efforts on sex buyers who are seeking to take advantage of sex trafficking victims; we are putting these predators on notice that our Bell County community will not tolerate their behavior," Sheriff Eddy Lange said Wednesday.

Arrests Thursday Feb. 1

Marcus Brown, Temple

Christopher Colwell, Salado

Travis Hunt, Temple

Andrew Kuhn, Fort Hood

William McDonald, Belton

Jose Moreno, Killeen

Nathan Murray, Temple

Ralph Phelan, Fort Hood

Barron Ramsey, Temple

Dartagnan Seay, Temple

Kenneth Solack, Kempner