Bond denied for escort service owner accused of forced prostitution

AUGUSTA - A judge has denied bond for an escort service owner accused of assaulting women to force them into prostitution. <br> <br> Steven L. Barnes, 23, pleaded innocent Friday in Richmond County Superior Court. <br> <br> Barnes, owner of AA Angels Escort Service, assaulted the women to coerce them into prostitution, keeping half the wages for himself, Assistant District Attorney Shauna Reeves said. <br> <br> The attacks were reported to have happened Sept. 24 and Jan. 15. One woman told investigators Barnes beat her with a metal baseball bat and then raped her, and a second woman reported she was assaulted at gunpoint. <br> <br> Barnes also faces a murder charge in Edgefield County, S.C., where the remains of 16-year-old Samuel James Sturrup Jr. were found after the teen-ager disappeared Sept. 3. <br> <br> Investigators said Barnes and five others beat the teen, then locked him in the trunk of a vehicle and killed him in South Carolina.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/199301