King County prosecutors have charged a 41-year-old Kent man with attempted promoting commercial sex abuse of a minor after he allegedly tried to pick up an undercover cop posing as a 17-year-old girl near the Westlake Center in Seattle.
Michael D. Gaines, of Kent, and Bruce J. Brooks, of Seattle, each were arrested Aug. 23 by Seattle Police near the shopping mall as part of an undercover sting in an area known to attract prostitutes and their pimps, according to charging papers.
Gaines, who has an extensive criminal record, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Sept. 10. He remained in the county jail Tuesday in Seattle with bail set at $75,000.
Seattle Police used two female officers to pose as 17-year-old girls along the strip of Pine Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. The officers were sitting in plain clothes near the Westlake Park fountain when they were approached late in the afternoon Aug. 23 by Gaines and Brooks.
The two men struck up conversations with the undercover officers and kept talking to them after the officers said they were 17 years old. Gaines allegedly told one of the officers that he was once a pimp and was considering becoming a pimp again. He told the undercover officer he wanted her to work for him as a prostitute and instructed her about how much to charge clients for specific sex acts.
Gaines reportedly added that she must turn over all of her earnings to him and that he was the only one she should listen to. He said he would protect her and line up hotel rooms for her to prostitute from.
According to charging papers, Gaines is unemployed and considered a flight risk. He has been booked 35 times since 1988 consisting of 39 warrants. His felony convictions include possession of cocaine/heroin in 1998; manufacture/delivery of cocaine/heroin in 1990, 1991 and 1999; third-degree assault in 2007 and promoting prostitution in 1998. He has misdemeanor convictions for fourth-degree assault in 2011; DUI in 2011; prostitution in 1990 and nine other convictions.
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