Police: 2 men accused of child sex trafficking in Arizona, Texas

MESA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Police have arrested two men accused of child sex trafficking multiple victims in Arizona and Texas.

Mesa police say 24-year-old Oshay Small and 21-year-old Cornelius Wells were arrested near Metro Center Mall following a five-month investigation into the sexual exploitation and trafficking of 15-year-old girls through the website Backpage.com.

Police say the suspects first contacted the victims through Facebook and began exploiting them several days later. The victims left home and were reported as runaways while they were being exploited, according to police.

Investigators say an additional juvenile female and two adult females were also being exploited and some of the victims were transported to Tucson and El Paso, Texas.

The suspects allegedly used Backpage.com to advertise and locate buyers, and they received proceeds from exploiting the victims.

Mesa police detectives located the suspects at a hotel near Metro Center Mall where they were taken into custody. An adult female victim was with the suspects at the time of their arrest.

Both suspects face multiple counts of child sex trafficking.

Small is being held on $75,000 bond and Wells is being held on $50,000 bond.

If you have any information on someone being trafficked, you're asked to contact your local police department or the National Human Trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or humantraffickinghotline.org.