Charles Wade, a prominent Black Lives Matter organizer and co-founder of Operation Help or Hush, has been arrested and charged with human trafficking and prostitution

Wade was arrested at a Howard Johnson Inn in College Park, Maryland, on April 25, 2016. He was residing in a motel room where he pimped a 17-year-old girl. Wade was held on seven counts relating to felony human trafficking and prostitution. He was bailed out shortly after his arrest. He was arrested as part of a sting operation in which an undercover officer responded to an ad Wade placed for a 23-year-old woman on backpage.com, a website frequently used by sex traffickers and prostitutes. Investigators said that the woman, who turned out to be a 17-year-old girl, called Wade her manager. She said he knew that she was a minor but wasn’t worried because of her upcoming birthday. She also told investigators that she provided all the money she earned to Wade.