Former Freeport residents arrested in Florida on sex charges

A human trafficking investigation has led to the arrest of two former Freeport residents in Florida.

Bay County Sheriff’s deputies arrested former Freeport residents, Timothy Bennett and Crystal Houston, on felony warrants filed in Stephenson County, the Freeport Police Department announced Tuesday.

Bennett and Houston were located March 20 at a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, after Freeport police detectives received a tip advising of their whereabouts. This information was passed on to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

The warrant for Timothy Bennett, 37, was filed Sept. 23 in Stephenson County and bond was set at $750,000. The complaint alleged one count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which occurred between May 17, 2022, and Aug. 1, 2022.

The warrant for Crystal Houston, 38, was filed Feb. 28 in Stephenson County. She has been ordered to be held without pretrial release until further order of the court. The complaint alleged two counts of promoting prostitution, which occurred on Nov. 1, 2021.

Bennett has been extradited back to Stephenson County and is currently in the county jail. Houston is in the process of being extradited back to Stephenson County.

Chris Green is a Rockford Register Star general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email at cgreen@rrstar.com and Twitter @chrisfgreen.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Former Freeport residents linked to human trafficking, sex crimes