By Kay Cooley / WDAY TV
Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - A Fargo man, charged with pimping out a 13-year-old girl in Moorhead, is asking a judge to dismiss his case.
24-year-old Prince Jones appeared in Clay County court Monday, he's one of two people behind bars on human trafficking charges.
Price Jones and his defense attorney argued the state does not have enough evidence to connect him to the crime.
Police say Jones and 24-year-old Eyeesha Hinton of Minneapolis were selling a 13-year-old girl for sex, advertised as a 21-year-old prostitute on backpage.com.
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Moorhead detectives discovered the ad, responded, then met the 13-year-old victim at Super 8 in Moorhead, where they learned she was a runaway from Minneapolis, brought to Moorhead by the couple.
Police then tracked Jones and Hinton in Fargo and arrested them.
Only Jones appeared in court Monday, where the state asked to join his and Hinton's cases for one trial.
But the defense opposed their motion and says Hinton might know the victim and be involved in the case, but for Jones- it was just "wrong place, wrong time"
Steven Beitelspacher/Defense Attorney: “I think they lack evidence that he committed a crime. For what it's worth, the advertising at least, presented someone who was claiming to be 21 in this case or perhaps 18 at the very youngest. He had no idea, she said she was an adult and that's all he knew.”
Prosecutors were not available for comment today.
The judge set Jones's next court date for August 11th, a probable cause hearing where they will also discuss joining both his and Hinton's cases.
