A bond reduction request has been denied for a Nashville man charged with using a 15 year old Liberty girl for prostitution.
34 year old Charles Earl Denton appeared in DeKalb County Criminal Court Friday for a hearing with his lawyer Adam Parrish of Lebanon.
Parrish asked that Denton’s bond be reduced from $250,000 to $10,000. At the conclusion of the hearing Judge David Patterson denied the request.
Denton is charged in a DeKalb County Grand Jury sealed indictment with trafficking for commercial sex act.
The investigation by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department began on Friday, August 4th after the girl’s family reported her missing. The family said the teen sought and received permission to spend the night at a friend’s house two days before on Wednesday, August 2nd but she never came home. The investigation revealed that the girl knew Denton and that he had arranged through social media to meet her. Denton drove to Liberty on Wednesday, August 2, picked up the girl, and transported her to Nashville for the purpose of commercial sex. She was later found at a Nashville motel with another missing teen and an adult woman. Denton was not at the motel at the time.
“Through an investigation, it was found that Charles Denton was the one who planned to meet our missing juvenile on August 2nd. Denton drove to Liberty here in DeKalb County and picked the juvenile up and transported her to Nashville for the purpose of commercial sex,” said Sheriff Patrick Ray.
“Detectives obtained a state warrant for Charles Denton,” he said.
“On August 25th, a special called meeting of the DeKalb County Grand Jury convened and a sealed indictment was obtained for trafficking for a commercial sex act on Charles Denton”.
“Denton was picked up in Davidson County on August 31st. He was transported to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department where he remains in custody on a $250,000 bond,” added Sheriff Ray.