Incarcerated MN Man Facing Sex Trafficking, Prostitution Charges in Rochester

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office filed felony charges against an incarcerated Rush City man in connection to an alleged prostitution operation in Rochester. 

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Court documents say the case began this past January when the victim, described as an adult woman, spoke with law enforcement about an individual she met through Instagram last October. The woman told Rochester Police that the man told her she could be a model and that they began spending time together in October. 

The woman told police the man, identified as 26-year-old Larry Eddie Konah, began to become more aggressive with her and forcibly took a phone she had bought in November. He told her they needed to make money and used the phone to set up an account on an app called List Crawlers, which court documents describe as an escort service. 

The charges say Konah put photos of the woman on his social media and made a listing of the victim on the app. After Christmas, the victim said Konah would use the phone set up appointments for app users to have sex with the victim that Konah would refer to as “plays”. 

The woman said the plays happened multiple times per week and sometimes multiple times per day until early January at an apartment complex in Rochester. Konah would charge app users $60-$400 per play and would facilitate some of the payments through the Cash App, according to the criminal complaint. 

Investigators also spoke with a man who admitted to paying the victim $300 for a sexual encounter last December. Detectives also learned of another woman who Konah met through Instagram that was at the apartment of the alleged sexual encounters after the new year. Konah posted a lewd photo of her on his social media and the victim warned the woman of Konah’s alleged scheme, prompting her to leave the apartment, court documents say. 

Konah denied facilitating prostitution during an interview with detectives, the complaint says. He said he and the victim were friends with benefits and said the plays in messages obtained by law enforcement were in reference to people he works with in the fashion industry.

See Also: 11 Arrested, 4 Rescued in Minnesota Human Trafficking Sting

Konah was charged Monday with engaging in sex trafficking, profiting from prostitution, promoting prostitution and soliciting an individual for prostitution. 

Court records indicate Konah is incarcerated at the state prison in St. Cloud where he started serving a 41-month prison sentence on January 19 of this year as the result of a receiving profit from prostitution conviction in Ramsey County. He’s due to make his first court appearance for the Rochester case in September.