The owner of one of East Tennessee’s largest bail bonding companies has been arrested in an undercover sting operation for allegedly accepting an offer of sex from an officer posing as a 17-year-old girl.
Thomas “Andy” Baggenstoss, 43, reportedly responded to an internet ad from his cellphone and agreed to meet the undercover Chattanooga police officer, who stated she was 17 years old, at a hotel room near the Hamilton Place mall, according to Hamilton County court records.
Once he arrived, he met the undercover officer and gave her $100 in cash in exchange for sex, began to undress and groped the officer, court records state.
He was then placed under arrest and charged with trafficking for commercial sex acts. His bond was set at $50,000.
“I’m concerned by what I see as a charge of trafficking that does not appear to me, on its face, to be any different from the typical patronizing prostitution case – not in any way minimizing that,” Baggenstoss’ attorney, Lee Davis, said. “We are in the course of our investigation, and from what we understand, this was a case where consenting adults were meeting at a local hotel and they were busted by police we are still looking into it.”