Kent woman accused of advertising prostitute on Craigslist

A 33-year-old Kent woman has been charged with promoting prostitution for allegedly using Craigslist online classifieds to advertise the sexual services of a teenage friend.

King County prosecutors say Ayanna Raquel Wagner kept half the $200-an-hour fee that she charged men to come to her apartment on 108th Avenue Southeast in Kent to have sex with the younger woman. Both women were arrested in January when a Kent policeman posed as a customer and answered the online ad, according to charging documents.

The officer found the ad online while investigating reports that the younger woman had run away from home. He called the number on the ad and then had a text-message conversation that invited him to come to a convenience store in Kent and meet the prostitute, charging documents say.

When he got there, he found the woman pictured in the ad was accompanied by Wagner, who was driving the car and did all the talking, the court documents say. After agreeing to the $200 price to come back to the apartment nearby, the detective signaled other officers, who arrested the two women.

The younger woman told officers that Wagner had pressured her into prostitution, which she finally agreed to do so she could make money to care for her young child and to pay off student loans she owed to a community college, documents say. She said Wagner made all the arrangements and posted the online ads.

Wagner is not in custody, and has been summoned to appear for arraignment April 23.