Bust nets prostitution, alcohol charges

MYRTLE BEACH An Horry County police investigation of prostitution complaints linked to the Internet resulted in two of three women being charged with prostitution Thursday in Conway, according to a police report.

Police issued citations to Pamela Betty Jean Gravely, 41, of Hendersonville, N.C., and Gina M. Laform, 48, of Murrells Inlet for prostitution. The two were cited around 4 p.m. at a motel near Conway, police said. LaVitra Neilene McDonald, 42, of Conway, also was issued one citation for having alcohol/open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle.

Horry County police said a detective was investigating prostitution complaints on the Internet websites craigslist.com and backpage.com, and noticed an ad that read "Private Incall In Your Area - just saying - 23, " with a telephone number. Police said the detective called the number on the ad, and a man answered who said that several of his girls were working, but most of them were in the beach area.

The man offered to have a girl meet the caller - detective - anywhere, the report said. The detective said he would call back, and did so a few minutes later.

The detective agreed with the man on the phone that the Sleep Inn, 3345 Church St., located in the Conway section of Horry County, would be the meeting place, police said. The male told the detective he would contact "Donna, " and she would meet him at the Sleep Inn.

After a few minutes, the detective received a call from a woman who said she was on her way. He told the woman he would give her the room number when she arrived.

He kept contact with the woman through two phone numbers during her trip to the motel, and several undercover officers, who were located in the motel parking lot, watched a small vehicle with three people inside pull up to the motel and they notified the detective about the arrival.

The woman knocked on the room door and was let inside, according to police, when she notified the detective she needed to call and check in, the report said. After the call, she asked, "You aren't a cop or anything, are you?" She then pulled a condom from her purse and placed it on a table beside the bed, and began discussing the price with the detective. The woman quoted $150 and was given $160.

After she asked the detective what he would like to do, other detectives entered the room and placed her under arrest, the report said. Then, after she was read her Miranda rights, the woman said she works for the man and woman the detective had been talking to on the telephone. She also said a woman who drove her to the location takes her to and from different places where sexual meetings are scheduled. She told police that the other man and woman get a percentage of any money she earns.

Police said the woman placed call to the same number the detective had been calling to report that she was finished. The woman who answered said she was in the parking lot, according to police.

Police said an open bottle of vodka was in plain view inside the vehicle that waiting in the parking lot. The driver admitted she had talked with the detective earlier in the day and that the detective talked to a man.All three of the women were takento J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Bust nets prostitution, alcohol charges."