TOWN OF WILSON, Wis. (WHBL) -- Two people are facing charges in connection with a prostitution sting.
45-year-old Felix Patton of Sheboygan is charged with Pandering, and 22-year-old Novya Southern of Milwaukee faces prostitution, possession of narcotics and possession of paraphernalia charges.
According to the criminal complaint, Sheboygan County sheriff's deputies set up a prostitution sting by putting out a call to an advertisement on the Backpage website offering up escorts. Deputies say the woman who answered the phone confirmed that basic services are offered and that she would be bringing condoms to the meeting. The deputy then texted the address of a hotel in the Town of Wilson.
Deputies set up surveillance on the site, and saw a white Lincoln pull into the parking lot and watched a woman leave the vehicle and enter the hotel. She then made her way to the deputy's room, where she allegedly shook the officer's hand and then asked if he was a cop. The deputy showed he didn't have any wires on under his shirt, and she then tried to grope him. The deputy called for an arrest and they took the woman into custody.
She was eventually identified as Southern, and asked to be taken to jail. She wouldn't admit to prostitution, but told deputies she was doing this of her own free will.
Deputies also checked out the driver of the Lincoln, who was Patton. Patton told deputies he had simply brought a friend to the hotel but didn't know why she was there. When police searched his car, they found Southern's purse inside which also contained a baggie of heroin and some drug paraphernalia. Patton was taken into custody because he was already on probation for another charge of pandering.
Patton is free on a signature bond and will be back in court in April for a pretrial conference. Southern is free on a $500 cash bond is due in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on the narcotics possession charges.