Sex trafficking operation at troubled Baltimore County hotel leads to rescues, arrests

Two girls were rescued and two men were arrested for human trafficking after an undercover investigation connected to a troubled Baltimore County hotel, which had been the site of several other police responses.

Deion Taurence Philip, 32, from New York, and Antoine Miles, 57, from Maryland, are charged with sex trafficking of a minor and other related criminal charges.

Philip is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bond. Miles is being held in Minnesota and is awaiting extradition to Maryland.

Troopers believe there may have been additional trafficking victims.

Anyone with information on trafficking victims is asked to call the Maryland State Police at  410-694-4700.   

The alleged sex trafficking

In September, the Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit conducted an undercover sex trafficking operation when investigators located a critically missing minor at the Comfort Inn on Loch Raven Boulevard in Towson.

Investigators got the attention of the suspect by responding to a post on a known sex trafficking website, according to charging documents obtained by WJZ.

The officer went to the hotel room where he heard a young girl talking with a man inside the room. The officer announced himself as he walked into the room, and investigators searched the room.

Police identified the girl as a minor who had been reported missing. According to police, the girl said she met the met while walking down a street in Baltimore, and he picked her up and rented her a hotel room.

She then told police she did not want to conduct sex acts for money, documents revealed.

Officers were given security photos by employees at the Comfort Inn to help with the investigation, and the victim detailed the suspect's physical attributes.

Miles and Philip were identified through investigative findings and interviews, police said.

Sex trafficking arrests

On November 4, Philip was arrested at a home in Hanover, Pennsylvania, where another missing girl was believed to have been a victim of sex trafficking.   

Two days later, Miles was arrested at an airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   

Human trafficking response in Maryland

Amanda Rodriguez, CEO of the victim-advocacy group TurnAround, said hotels can be especially dangerous locations for trafficking victims.

"These children are put in extreme danger if they're being trafficked in an area, especially something that's hidden like a hotel where things can happen behind a door, and the people in the room right next to them would not understand what's going on," Rodriguez said.

TurnAround leaders say the scope of the crisis in Baltimore County is concerning. 

Rodriguez said the organization is serving up to 50 child sex-trafficking victims in the county so far this year. She added that several recent cases have originated from the same Towson corridor.

"It's not lost on the community that we have seen a number of cases come specifically out of that hotel and come out of that area in general," she said. "It begs the question, why is this happening? How can we intercede?"

TurnAround is the rape crisis center for Baltimore City and County. You can find more information here.

Police calls to the Comfort Inn

In September, a man surrendered to police after barricading himself at the Comfort Inn in Towson.

Police said the man surrendered. Officers said they deployed a flash/bang device at the scene before the incident was resolved.

The incident prompted a large police presence in the area. 

"I was going to sleep in honestly, and quite frankly, I'm glad I didn't because I would be stuck inside as well," hotel guest Talipah Pelzer said.

That same Comfort Inn was the scene of a crime in 2019 after a Pennsylvania man was killed in one of the rooms. 

According to police, Jeremiah David Koch of Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania, was called into a hotel room to calm down Deonte James Griffin, 26, who was agitated. 

Griffin then pulled out a gun, and another man fled from the room before he heard gunshots. He fled the scene but was later arrested and charged with murder. 

Crime concerns on Loch Raven Boulevard

In September, people who live and work in the area said there have been issues with robbery, theft, and drugs at the Comfort Inn, and at the now-shuttered Days Inn across the street.

And back in 2021, a murder suicide happened next door at the Welcome Inn. A Starbucks on the corner was closed because of these concerns.

Pelzer said a lot of the people stay at the Comfort Inn and live there, and something needs to be done.

"They have to get it together," Pelzer said. "Like I said, people stay here and they pay good money. The conditions aren't great inside. There are bedbugs, roaches, mice, so this isn't half of what people go through."

Baltimore County officials say crime at the Comfort Inn has increased since the Days Inn across the street, long considered a trouble spot, was demolished. 

Advocates also point to the hotel's proximity to major highways, which they say allows traffickers to move victims quickly and hide in plain sight.

"I know our police department is constantly monitoring activity at hotels, working with advocacy groups that actually help victims," Baltimore County Councilman Mike Ertel said.