SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A father and son from Reno, Nevada, were arraigned in federal court in San Diego on charges they conspired to engage in the sex trafficking of children and the attempted enticement of an adult and children, authorities said Friday.
San Diego County sheriff's deputies and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force conducted an undercover investigation into 50-year-old Conoly Franklin, who unwittingly contacted an undercover sheriff deputy's social media profile, believing the deputy was a young woman with a teenage sister, prosecutors said.
Conoly Franklin communicated with the deputy over the course of nine days in an attempt to convince her and her 16-year-old sister to work for him performing commercial sex acts, prosecutors said.
On Aug. 31, Conoly Franklin traveled from Reno to National City to pick up the woman and her sister in an attempt to transport them back to Nevada in order to have them perform commercial sex acts in Reno, prosecutors said.
Conoly Franklin's 24-year-old son, Andre Franklin, accompanied his father on the trip.
Throughout the trip from Reno to National City, Andre Franklin communicated with someone he believed to be another 16-year-old female from Napa, but who actually was an undercover detective with the Napa Special Investigations Bureau.
Andre Franklin told the detective that he was going to take her back to Reno to perform commercial sex acts after he and his father picked up the sisters in San Diego, prosecutors said.
The father and son were arrested when they arrived in National City after traveling through the night from Reno.
The defendants were arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
