Accused Teen Madam Denies Charges of Prostitution Ring

Feb. 26, 2009— -- They were unlikely suspects -- two 16-year-olds arrested for allegedly masterminding a child prostitution ring. But one of them is adamant that she was not a madam.

In a jailhouse interview given to ABC's Phoenix affiliate, Tatianna Tye disputed the police allegations that she led a ring of at least five girls, recruited from area schools.

"I would just never do that," she told the affiliate, although she did not deny being involved in prostitution. "I would never, ever, ever put someone in that position."

Police say Tatianna and Jazmine Finley recruited girls between the ages of 13 and 17 to work an area of Phoenix known for prostitution. They were even able to rent an apartment, where they often brought girls to work, Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill told ABCNews.com.

"She's not even capable of doing something like that," said Tatianna's grandmother, Linda Tye.

In her jailhouse interview, Tatianna said she had followed Finley into making some bad decisions.

"She was like 'What kind of friend are you, just leaving me by myself' and stuff like that so that's how I felt. She told me if I left that's like me leaving her by herself," she said. "Being a follower, not a leader, following whatever Finley does and those were bad things."

Hill said police began investigating the ring back in September.

"Our patrol officers were out there working and found there were some child prostitutes working in town," he said.

With children, he said, it's not as simple as interrogating them. While Hill declined to say exactly how investigators came to believe that Tatianna and Finley were responsible for prostituting the girls, he said there was enough evidence to arrest them.

"It takes awhile," he said of working with the child prostitutes. "You have to build trust."

Finley, arrested first on Feb. 17, was charged with nine counts of child prostitution, one count of pandering and two counts of receiving earnings from a prostitute. Tatianna, arrested on Feb. 19, was charged with one count of child prostitution and three counts of pandering.

Hill said that while typical pimps often recruit young girls by trolling malls and promising them gifts, Tatianna and Finley allegedly recruited their workers at area high schools, though no crimes took place on school grounds. Each prostitute would make up to several hundred dollars a night and the two teens would take a cut of their earnings, though Hill could not say how much.

Messages left with Finley's attorney, a public defender, were not immediately returned. Finley's legal guardian denied her an interview with the ABC affiliate.