The owner of “Alaska Naughty Maids,” 39-year-old Amber L. Batts was arrested on three counts of Sex Trafficking II and one count of Sex Trafficking III on Wednesday according the the Alaska State Troopers.
DPS announced that the Special Crimes Investigation Unit launched an investigation into online sites that showcased woman for commercial sex in March of this year. It was found through their investigation that that online business as well as other sites were responsible for marketing women in the commercial sex trade in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, Juneau, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula.
That investigation was initiated after the arrest of 33-year-old Jeron Batts in Fairbanks in February. Jeron, was charged with seven counts of Sex Trafficking and seven counts of Evidence Tampering. It is unclear what the relationship between the two Batts is and the state is not revealing any information.
It was during that investigation that investigators zeroed in on Batts being the person managing/supervising the online business. When investigators studied “Now Hiring” page the website owned by Amber Nickerson, one of Batts several aliases, it gave half-hour, hourly, and “Doubles” prices ranging from $200 to $650.
As a result of the four month investigation, the authorities executed two simultaneous search warrants at two locations in Anchorage. One of the warrants was for an apartment that troopers say was where “patrons of the online business met with the women and where a large majority of the commercial sexual acts took place.”
Found on the scenes were 32 independent contractor agreements and a client list that contained approximately 800 clients.
The second warrant was issued for Batts’ residence.
During the search, investigators seized evidence that is purported to show that there was money exchanged for sexual acts and that Batts had procured patrons for the women under her in the sexual trade, and as a result of that pimping, received a cut of the money the women received.
Batts told investigators that she had gotten into the sex trafficking business in 2004, but sold the business to another pimp in 2012. She said that after that pimp mismanaged them, she took the women back and started the website to publicize them.
The website, now down and for sale, cautioned the “Johns” from asking what they were paying for and advised them to leave the money in a place visible.
In court on Probation Violation charges on Wednesday, Batts told the court that she had made $3,000 to $5,000 a month, but the state disagreed saying her income was double those figures.
When asked by Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan if she had the money available to hire a lawyer, Batts replied “No,” and she was appointed a public defender.
Batts posted her bail, which was set at $15,000. Judge Spaan added an additional $1,000 to her bail amount.
Batts has yet to receive a court date for the Sex Trafficking charges.