Detectives say hotel records, surveillance video and online advertisements helped connect the 28-year-old defendant to the SeaTac investigation.
SEATAC, WA — A 28-year-old Auburn man has been charged with trafficking and sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl after an investigation that began when the teen called 911 from a SeaTac motel in April, according to King County court records cited by investigators and local news reports.
Devante Clay Ransom faces charges of human trafficking of a minor, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, rape of a child and communication with a minor for immoral purposes in King County Superior Court. The allegations stem from the girl’s account to investigators and evidence detectives said they collected from the motel, online advertisements and surveillance video. Ransom has not been convicted, and the charges remain allegations as the criminal case proceeds.
The investigation began April 3 at the Sleep Inn on International Boulevard in SeaTac, where the girl contacted authorities and reported that a man she knew as “Tay” had assaulted her. Investigators later determined she was 14. According to charging documents described by KOMO News, the girl told police the man was acting as her pimp and had assaulted her after she tried to leave the motel.
The teen told detectives she had met Ransom on Snapchat about a week before the 911 call. She said she had been engaging in commercial sex and turning over money from those encounters to him. Investigators said hotel records showed Ransom had booked the room where officers found the girl. Motel employees also told investigators he had provided business cards connected to a car dealership where he worked in Auburn.
Detectives reviewed motel surveillance footage that they said showed Ransom and the girl checking into the property four days before police responded. Investigators alleged that cameras later recorded five men arriving separately at the room while the girl was there. Their visits lasted from about 15 minutes to an hour, according to the charging documents described by KOMO News.
Police also located online advertisements from the days before the 911 call that investigators said featured the girl and used language associated with commercial sex. The girl told detectives she received between $100 and $300 from encounters with buyers and gave part of that money to Ransom. She also told investigators that Ransom had taken her to Aurora Avenue in Seattle on multiple occasions.
King County sheriff’s detectives arrested Ransom earlier in August at the Auburn car dealership where he was working. He was booked into jail, and KOMO News reported that his bail was set at $300,000. Detective James Price said trafficking investigations can take months or years because investigators must gather evidence while working with victims who may fear retaliation against themselves or people close to them.
Ransom’s defense has challenged his continued detention. In a filing cited by KOMO News, public defender Jacob Zerby asked a judge to allow electronic home monitoring, pointing to the months that passed between the initial April investigation and the filing of charges. Zerby said Ransom remained in South King County during that period, continued working and obtained a new apartment. The defense filing did not resolve the allegations against him.
The King County Sheriff’s Office highlighted Ransom’s arrest in its public news listings this week. Ransom remained jailed as of the latest published report and is expected to return to court in September. A specific date for that appearance was not identified in the sources reviewed.
Author note: Last updated August 27, 2026.