A Sidney man whose home was raided in April by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring now faces five charges in court, one of them a felony.
Frederick Horne Sr., 46, is due in Kennebec County Superior Court July 22 for a hearing on one count of unlawful possession of oxycodone, three counts of sex trafficking — which charge him with promoting prostitution Feb. 10-April 10 in Sidney — and one count of marijuana trafficking. The oxycodone charge carries a maximum five-year prison term. All the other charges carry maximum sentences of 364 days in jail.
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Horne’s West River Road property, the site of Adam & Eve escort service, was raided by police April 10. They were armed a with search warrant and seeking evidence of sex trafficking and also welfare fraud, according to an affidavit by Maine State Trooper Christopher Crawford. Crawford indicated that Horne had been investigated over the past two years at different locations.
As a result of the raid, Horne and his son, Frederick Horne Jr., 19, were initially summoned to Waterville District Court on one sex trafficking charge each.
On Wednesday, District Attorney Maeghan Maloney’s office filed the new charges against the elder Horne. There is no record in Waterville District Court or Kennebec County Superior Court of charges against the younger Horne, but the prosecutor’s office has until next week to file them with the courts.
It was not clear whether Frederick Horne Sr. has an attorney.
Police say they found a half dozen women at the house when they arrived to search it. However, in an interview outside his home two days after the raid, Horne denied that any of the women living at his home were there against their will.
“These girls are like my family,” Horne said at the time, saying that 12 to 15 women stay at the house.
The women were interviewed by police but not charged.
“It may be illegal but you know what, a place like here where it doesn’t bother anybody, for one thing, and morally, I have my faith too, and it may not be right, but it’s like anybody else — they have the right to walk by a church or to walk into it,” Horne said. “It’s the United States of America. It’s supposed to be a free country.”
Horne said the women working for him ranged in age from 20 to 48 years old, and said that several came from difficult upbringings.
Horne previously operated Gentlemen’s Choice, described in ads as “an erotic rub-down parlor,” on College Avenue in Waterville.
Ads appearing at the time in the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal described the Adam & Eve business as providing adult entertainment and “in/out calls.”
The Hornes previously were evicted from a North Belgrade house because the landlord suspected they were running a prostitution ring at the house, according to Crawford’s affidavit.
The April 10 bust came the same day that Gov. Paul LePage signed a bill that helps keep human trafficking victims from facing criminal conviction. The law makes sex trafficking an affirmative defense to a charge of prostitution and prevents victims of trafficking from being branded with a criminal conviction.
The measure also fines perpetrators of sex trafficking $500 to $1,000 in addition to existing penalties and allows victims to draw from the Victims’ Compensation Fund.
The bill was supported by organizations that prevent sexual violence, including the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Police were called to Horne’s 2874 West River Road, Sidney, address twice in 2013, according to the affidavit, the first because of a domestic dispute in August and then because of an assault in September.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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