Rowan man charged with trying to trade money for sex

Published 11:44 am Monday, April 25, 2016

By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – A Rowan County man was charged after authorities said he tried to trade money for sex from his nephew’s girlfriend. The man was charged when he reported the incident to law enforcement.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Frankie Eugene Bumgarner, 52, with misdemeanor patronizing a prostitute. He was issued a $500 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.

The woman, Christina Elizabeth Morgan, 26, was charged with solicitation for prostitution. She was issued a $500 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.

Officials said Saturday they were dispatched to the 300 block of Virginia Avenue where they met with Bumgarner, who wanted to report larceny of $20. Bumgarner told the deputy he and Morgan agreed that Bumgarner would pay her money in exchange for sexual intercourse, but she took the cash and left.

Bumgarner told the deputy the two of them exchanged text messages about the intended encounter. According to the deputy’s report, Morgan told Bumgarner they could be alone because her boyfriend was “passed out after taking 15 Xanax.”

She promised Bumgarner he could have a sexual encounter with her all night long. When Bumgarner arrived at Morgan’s residence, she told him to place the money on a table and instructed him to go into a bedroom. Bumgarner went into the bedroom while Morgan and her boyfriend left the home.

Bumgarner let the officer look at the text messages he and Morgan exchanged. According to the report, Bumgarner told the deputy he knew what he did was illegal, but wanted Christina Morgan to “pay for what she had done to him.”

The deputy went to Morgan’s Virginia Avenue home, where she denied offering Bumgarner sex in exchange for money. She told the deputy Bumgarner offered her money and that she declined his offer. She admitted she deleted her text messages that would prove her version. The nephew told the deputy it was he who “pretended” to be Christina Morgan, but he could not provide a reason as to why he would make such an offer.