Three military men, including two from Fort Hood, were among nine arrested in a teen prostitution sting set up by Texas police.
Two soldiers from the troubled Fort Hood military base have been arrested by Texas police in connection with a teen prostitution sting, authorities said.
Spc. Anthony Xavier Antwon, 25, and Pfc. Timmy Jones Jr., 30, have been charged with felony prostitution under the age of 18, according to the Killeen Police Department.
The men were among nine arrested over the weekend after they contacted undercover officers via social media accounts and arranged sexual acts with girls they believed were 15 or 16, according to authorities.
The fees included money, drugs and alcohol, police said.
The men were arrested without incident after showing up at a location where they allegedly believed they would meet the girls.
Fort Hood, the country's third-largest Army installation, is at the center of controversy over the dismemberment killing of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a soldier who went missing for two months before her burned remains were found near Killeen.
Her suspected killer, a fellow soldier, shot himself to death as officers approached him, authorities said.
Family members, politicians and hundreds of military members have condemned base officials, accusing them of moving too slowly and covering up information about the woman's death. Her family has said she complained of being sexually harassed on base before she disappeared from her post in April.
Fort Hood has the most reported sexual assaults, sexual harassment incidents and killings of any base in the military branch, Army secretary Ryan McCarthy said last week during an appearance at the installation.
Guillen's death, he said, is under special review. Crime rates "are high here,” he said. The Army is deploying a group of outside investigators to “understand the root cause associated with the rise of felonies, violent acts, to better understand why this is happening at this installation," the secretary said.
The dead soldier's family has also met with President Trump, who promised a thorough and independent investigation during an Oval Office visit on July 30.
Those arrested over the weekend included a third soldier, Staff Sgt. Pierre Jean, 32, who received a misdemeanor prostitution charge. He is a combat medic stationed at the Army Medical Center of Excellence at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
According to jail records, the two Fort Hood soldiers are being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The sting resulted in seven felony prostitution charges, two misdemeanor prostitution charges, and the confiscation of two guns, according to Killeen police.
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