Todd Wallace (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
A Minneapolis Public Schools employee faces a felony charge for his alleged involvement in promoting and brokering sex work.
Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Todd James Wallace, 47, of Shoreview, on Wednesday at Andersen United Middle School in connection with a sex trafficking investigation, charging documents show.
According to a criminal complaint, undercover agents responded to two ads for sex work posted on Adultlook.com and chatted with women who went by “Willow” and “Cheyenne.”
In each chat, the agents were offered rates for services and booked an appointment at a Minneapolis address.
The agent who was chatting with Willow canceled the appointment and received a notice of a $50 cancellation fee on Cash App. The agent didn’t respond and later received a text message threatening to “involve your work or family” if the fee wasn’t paid by noon and sent via Venmo, the complaint states.
Agents similarly scheduled an appointment with Cheyenne and were told to meet at the same address. The agent did not show up and received voicemails demanding they answer the phone. The agent then received a text from the same number as before, demanding a $50 cancellation fee and threatening to “involve work and family.”
The complaint states agents contacted Willow again and arranged to meet on the morning of April 29. The agents served a warrant and learned from Willow that Wallace handled all advertising and communications. She also explained that Wallace took a 50% cut of all client fees and had asked Willow to recruit more women for sex work.
BCA agents had also followed up on a separate tip regarding a Craigslist ad purporting to pay models $50 per hour for photographs and $50-$200 per hour for massage therapists. The Hopkins address listed on the ad was associated with Wallace, and Hopkins police had “multiple contacts with the address,” according to the complaint.
During Wallace’s arrest Wednesday at Andersen United Middle School, agents saw him texting with a third woman.
“Im serious Human trafficking police are at my school. Call me,” Wallace wrote.
Wallace was released from custody on Monday after posting a $25,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 28.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Minneapolis Public Schools for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Courtesy of KTSP
