Three people were arrested on prostitution charges Thursday, including an Augusta woman accused of running an escort service in Litchfield.

Police said Gretchen Patrick, 51, of Augusta has been operating an escort service under the name Sarah’s Place from a home in Litchfield. She was given a court summons on a charge of promoting sex-trafficking.

State police also charged a father and son from Sidney with operating what investigators described as a prostitution business. Frederick Horne Sr., 46, and his 19-year-old son, Frederick Jr., were each given court summonses on charges of promotion of sex-trafficking.

The charge of promoting sex-trafficking is what used to be known as promotion of prostitution. The terminology was changed in 2013.

The Hornes’ business is known as Adam & Eve escort service, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland. It is at 2874 West River Road in Sidney, a home raided Thursday by police, drug agents and representatives from the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office.

Police raided Patrick’s business later in the day, although investigators said the two businesses are not related. Sarah’s Place had offered “adult entertainment” and “the prettiest girls in the Central Maine area,” according to several online sources.

Business records were seized in both raids and a number of women and men at both locations were interviewed, McCausland said. Those records will be analyzed by investigators and additional charges could result.

According to Maine statute, Maine’s sex-trafficking law provides that a person is guilty of sex-trafficking if he knowingly promotes prostitution.

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