Two Florida women were arrested Wednesday on charges of running a brothel out of a house.
Undercover officers found three children in a locked room when the officers arrived at the house posing as potential customers, deputies said.
Investigators do not believe that the children were involved in the prostitution operation.
Tracy Mowatt, 49, and her daughter, Leslie Mowatt, 28, were targeted by investigators after authorities spotted an ad posted by the pair on Backpage.com, deputies said.
“When deputies arrived, the children were locked in a back bedroom,” Osceola County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said. “There were two 10-year-olds and a 5-year-old, and they did belong to the women.”
Both women were charged with child neglect and offering to engage in prostitution. Leslie Mowatt was also charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both were being held at the Osceola County Jail.
