Plainville Woman Worked As Prostitute With Child Living in Home: Police

A Plainville woman is accused of working as a prostitute with a baby living in the home.

Shana Thomasen, 28, faces charges of prostitution and risk of injury to a minor.

According to police, investigators were looking into posts on Backpage.com that were advertising prostitution in their town. They first became aware of the posts in May. According to the application for arrest warrant, the ads contained pictures of a woman and a phone number. A Plainville detective conducting this investigation recognized the woman in the ads as Thomasen.

Police said Thomasen had been previously investigated in April 2011 when someone reported she was prostituting herself at a local motel, but she was never charged.

When the detective searched Backpage.com, he found ads with that phone number dating back to April 2016.

The arrest warrant application states that on July 31, 2016, they received a report that Thomasen may be prostituting herself. The person reported there were often strange vehicles in the driveway.

Neighbors also reported seeing strange vehicles. One neighbor said a strange man knocked on their door asking about a Backpage.com ad, the application said.

Police contacted the Department of Children and Families because they were made aware that Thomasen had a 1-year-old daughter living in the home. On August 22 police and DCF went to the address on Atwood Street. The child was removed from the home and placed in the care of a relative.

Police said on that date Thomsen confirmed her phone number, which matched the number on the Backpage.com. According to police Thomasen admitted to prostituting herself out of the house and that she was doing it to buy methadone.

Thomasen told police that her boyfriend, the child’s father, always took her daughter out of the house while she conducted business.

Detectives continued to keep an eye on Backpage.com. On Aug. 26, police observed a new ad with Thomasen’s phone number. Investigators texted the number and exchanged several messages with Thomasen about sexual favors, the warrant application states.

Based on all this, detectives applied for an arrest warrant application. Before officers served the warrant, they checked Backpage.com to see if Thomasen was still posting. Police said they found posts from Thomasen under a new number. Police responded to an ad posted Sept. 9 at 7:43 a.m. and arranged to meet Thomasen the same day.

When an officer arrived at the Atwood address Thomasen came out to greet him. The detective told Thomasen that he wanted to take care of the money first and she agreed, at which point he identified himself as a police officer and placed her under arrest.

Thomasen is accused of inviting men into her home for sex in exchange for money on multiple occasions from April 2016 to September 2016. She was released on a $2,500 bond.

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