SPRING HILL, Fla. — The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said there may be more victims of a man they arrested after a call about a missing child uncovered human trafficking.
According to the HCSO, a juvenile was reported missing from Charlotte County on July 10. Using the juvenile's phone and other methods, the sheriff's office said they found the juvenile victim in Spring Hill with 56-year-old James Peter Houllis and a young adult woman.
Detectives said the juvenile told them she had been taken by an Uber driver from Charlotte to Houllis' home in Spring Hill on Sunday, July 9. The juvenile told detectives she had met what she thought was the young adult woman through an online dating app.
The juvenile told detectives she thought she was traveling to meet the young adult woman. Before she left, she told the sheriff's office she received a submissive/dominant contract agreement from Houllis.
The HCSO said the contract was acknowledged by the juvenile and she agreed to abide by it. Detectives said the contract indicated she would agree to Houllis' demands, including sexual contact.
Detectives said the juvenile told them once she was at Houllis' home, she, Houllis, and the young adult woman ate dinner, ingested marijuana, and then had sex. The juvenile told detectives she didn't intend to engage in sexual activity with Houllis but was told she had to abide by the contract in exchange for housing and more.
The sheriff's office said Houllis admitted to sex with both victims and admitted to having the contract in place. He said he was under the impression the juvenile was over 18. He was then charged with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and other charges.
During the interview with the young adult woman, detectives said it quickly became evident she was also a victim of human trafficking.
The woman corroborated the juvenile's statements and said Houllis strangled the juvenile at one point and was always in control, even of the conversations on the dating app.
More charges were filed against Houllis, including sexual battery on a young victim. During an initial hearing, Houllis was issued a no-contact order with the victims, and detectives said he violated that order when he asked the woman to stop cooperating with police and to drop the charges, which led to more charges against Houllis.
The woman told police she had first met Houllis in Colorado. She said she met him through a dating site, and the sheriff's office said Houllis lured her to Colorado and groomed her. Houllis allegedly arranged for multiple people to have sex with the victim while they were in Colorado.
Investigators in Hernando County said they found Houllis had police reports filed against him in the past based on his behavior, including while living in California and Colorado. A case from Aurora, Colorado, dealing with a young adult woman was dropped after she stopped cooperating. Houllis was listed as her father in the Colorado police report.
Detectives said Houllis had lived in 53 different places since 1980 and had a history of attempting to and successfully luring women and then being violent with them. Houllis lived in California, Colorado, then in Florida in Miami, Hollywood, Hudson, and finally, Spring Hill.
The Hernando County Sheriff's Office asked that anyone who may have been a victim or know of a victim of Houllis' to call their office at 352-754-6830.
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