Poker Sex Ring Taken Down

A professional poker player from Fairfield, California, USA, has been arrested and charged with running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls.

According to media reports, poker pro Aaron James Vaughn, 23, of Fairfield, was jailed after being charged with multiple counts of recruiting, coercing and prostituting minors.

The accusations date back to the year 2002, meaning Vaughn allegedly became first involved with sex trafficking when he was 17, the reports said.

Vaughn is accused by the FBI of trafficking underage girls from California to other locations, including across state lines to Nevada, for sexual purposes, the reports said.

As is often the case when someone is arrested and charged with heinous crimes, neighbors and friends of the accused said they were unaware of his secret criminal life.

"He was really sweet and sensitive," Leilani Neal, a family friend, told reporters, when asked about Vaughn. "I guess he went girl crazy and it led him down this road."

Another family friend, Diana Neal, who said she attended Bible study classes with Vaughn, told reporters: "I heard about all of it and it grieved my heart. We walked with the Lord a while and he kind of got sidetracked. I heard about what he got into and that saddens my heart."
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Thomas Somach, www.pokerhelper.com
Originally published July 15, 2008 1:03 pm EST