McLennan Co, Tx (FOX44) – A 30-year-old man, whom jail records indicate is from Liberty Hill, is the latest to be arrested in connection with a trafficking case involving two teenage girls from McGregor.
Bentley Brian Breshears was booked into the McLennan County Jail on Wednesday as the investigation in this case has continued.
The complaint filed in the case stated that Breshears was in a garage apartment in Georgetown – where the two girls were found and recovered on July 5. The complaint said he had not been there when they were recovered, but was there earlier while the girls were there.
As of Thursday morning, Breshears had only been charged with trafficking of persons – which is a first-degree felony.
Back on June 28, McGregor Police took a runaway report in reference to two 14-year-old girls – with an Amber Alert being issued for them on July 4.
Over the next several hours after the alert was issued, McLennan County Sheriff’s Office Detectives and Deputies interviewed numerous people and checked multiple residences in different towns looking for both girls.
Late in the evening of July 4, detectives received information that the girls were in a garage apartment attached to a home in Georgetown.
Just after midnight on July 5, the two victims were recovered and returned to their parents within the next couple of hours.
Both victims were forensically interviewed at the Waco Advocacy Center and both made outcries of having been sexually assaulted.
30-year-old James Robert VanHouten was arrested initially on a charge of harboring a runaway – but since has had an additional trafficking charge added.
VanHouten was arrested at his home in Georgetown after a 15-20 minute standoff with McLennan County Detectives and Georgetown Police. He was booked into the Williamson County Jail on the trafficking charge.
33-year-old Justin Anthony Phillips and 24-year-old Ricardo Chavez Ariaga were later arrested initially on charges of harboring a runaway child. Both were arrested at their respective residences by McLennan County detectives.
Detectives from the Human Trafficking/Child Exploitation Unit have continued their in-depth investigation into the case from the beginning, and has been gathering further information – resulting in the new arrests.
They reported at the time that their investigation was not complete, and that they expected more arrests.