Three Pontotoc County residents accused of human trafficking, prostitution

PONTOTOC COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A month-long investigation led to the arrest of three people in Pontotoc County charged in connection with human trafficking and prostitution.

Pontotoc County Sheriff Leo Mask said Kenneth Cornell, 31, and Mikael Haysett Ferrell, 26, were both charged with human trafficking.

Santonio Rodrico, 46, was charged with procuring prostitution.

The sheriff said the three adults befriended a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, after the pair left a residential treatment center in Pontotoc.

The sheriff says the investigation revealed that the three suspects took advantage of the victims, coercing them into prostitution.

“They went to a cookout, left Mill Creek, slipped off Mill Creek and someone, they met someone, taken them to a cookout and all this happened , the people that had taken them there was involved in setting this up,” said Pontotoc County Sheriff Leo Mask.

Sheriff Mask says this is the first case of human trafficking his office has worked .   All three suspects have prior criminal records.