OKC Drug Addicts Prostitute Toddler For Meth

Michael Konopasek, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As News 9 reported Thursday night, two arrests have been made in connection to the rape and abuse of a 3-year-old boy at a southwest side hotel.

The boy's mother was jailed for child neglect and her friend was arrested for allegedly allowing two men to have sex with the boy in exchange for drugs.

A family member said the boy is slowly but surely recovering from the traumatic experience and that he opened his eyes for first time since the ordeal.

This horrific case prompted a closer look at the overarching problem of prostitution, drug trafficking and the children caught in the middle.

6/23/2011 Related Story: OKC Police: Meth-Smoking Mom Delays Abused Child's Medical Care

South Robinson between 34th and 43rd Streets is one of the areas Oklahoma City police said is known for prostitutes.

JohnTV.com exposes prostitutes in the action of having sex via video. The website's founder says Jennifer Ragland (also known as Jennifer Chapman) is one of those prostitutes. She has been accused of allowing two men to rape and abuse a 3-year-old boy in exchange for drugs.

"Cases like this where you have a 3-year-old going through this are, thankfully, extremely rare," said Master Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department. "We almost never see it."

But, older children are often at the center of prostitution and drug trafficking.

"Child abuse does go hand-in-hand with prostitution because that goes hand-in-hand with drug addiction," said Brian Bates of JohnTV.com. "Most of these women on the streets are only here because they are motivated by drugs. Drugs is really their pimp."

Childhood prostitution is more common in cases involving children ages 12 to 17.

"I've interviewed many prostitutes over the years and probably about 30 to 40 percent will tell you at one point either their first pimp, or somewhere along the line, their parents were their pimp," Bates said.

Police and Bates agree children are exposed online and on private property such as truck stops. Police say they are combating the issue with stings both online and on the streets.

In the specific case involving prostitution with the 3-year-old boy, police are still looking for at least two suspects, possibly day laborers.