KNOX COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Two of three suspects accused in a human trafficking case involving a 16-year-old girl are due in a Knox County courtroom Thursday.
The case stretches from Corbin to Cincinnati, and the nature of the alleged crimes even startled police officers.
A sergeant with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department said this is among the more bizarre cases he’s been involved with over the years.
The suspects — Tiffany Cheek, Michael Nason, and Carl Hickman — are accused of luring the 16-year-old from Corbin into a U-Haul truck last weekend.
Investigators say Cheek and Hickman drove the truck while Nason allegedly stayed in the back with the girl. Police say Nason forced the girl to take drugs and sexually assaulted her.
Police in Cincinnati found the suspects and the girl in the truck where it was parked in the city in front of a check cashing store.
All three suspects face human trafficking charges, and Nason also was charged with rape.
He and Cheek are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Knox County.
Hickman is expected to be extradited soon from Cincinnati.