Three charged, fourth sought in Fayetteville human trafficking operation

Montrell Daquan Austin, 26, of 705 Dude Court, Erica Shante Reviere, 31, of 1113 Patrick Drive, and Diamante Holmes were charged with human trafficking of a child victim and promoting the prostitution of a minor. All were being held Monday in the Cumberland County jail under $250,000 bonds.

A fourth suspect, Rondell Easterling, remains on the loose.

Austin, Reviere and Holmes were arrested at a Comfort Inn on Skibo Road.

Lt. Todd Joyce, spokesman for the Fayetteville Police Department, said there was a discrepancy with management over room rates, and police found a 17-year-old girl from out of state in the room with the three adults.

"She had come to stay with relatives here in North Carolina, came in contact with these individuals and, unfortunately, was involved in this human trafficking investigation," Joyce said.

The girl was forced to perform sex acts at a nearby Days Inn, police said.

Authorities teens are often lured into trafficking situations by promises of expensive gifts or money.

"Then they end up being in some type of sexual servitude to these individuals," Joyce said. "Regardless if someone agrees to it or not, they under the age of 18. These are children."

Cumberland County has a special unit dedicated to tracking down people who commit trafficking offenses, District Attorney Billy West said.

"We have some organizations here in our community which are trying to assist the victims of human trafficking," West said. "We're seeing more and more of this across the state and across the nation and certainly here in Cumberland County, and we're taking it very seriously."