Indianapolis bail bondsman convicted of human trafficking for exploiting female inmates

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A former Indianapolis bail bondsman has been convicted of human trafficking for exploiting female inmates over several years.

The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday announced that Anthony Stout, a former bail bondsman, has been convicted of 13 counts, including promotion of human sexual trafficking, intimidation, and failure of a bail agent to collect full premium for extorting female inmates by leveraging his position as a bail bondsman to exchange sexual acts for bonds.

A jury returned the guilty verdicts after a five-day trial.

Stout was convicted of five counts of promotion of human sexual trafficking, attempted promotion of human sexual trafficking, five counts of intimidation, and two counts of failure of a bail agent to collect full premium.

Over the course of five days, the jury learned how Stout exploited and coerced multiple women to perform sexual acts on him in exchange for bonds, and if they refused, he would threaten to kill them or revoke their bonds and take away their freedom. This conduct dated back as far as December 2017, and was ultimate stopped when two women came forward and reported Stout.

“The courage of the survivors to not only report these crimes, but to share their testimony years later in court ensured that the defendant will never be able to take advantage of anyone again,” Prosecutor Ryan Mears said. “It takes the best sex crimes prosecutors and advocates to not only earn and maintain the trust of these survivors, but present a case on their behalf for five straight days to secure this conviction.”

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