GRANITE FALLS — A Minneapolis woman appeared in Yellow Medicine County District Court last week, for allegedly sexually trafficking her teenage daughter, court records said.

Tina Renee Watley Oats, 36, was charged with promoting prostitution of a person under the age of 18, engaging in trafficking of a person under 18, and soliciting a person under 18 to practice prostitution. Oats was arrested in a sting at the Prairie’s Edge Casino hotel on September 19, court documents said.

A criminal complaint alleges that officers from the Upper Sioux Police Department saw an online advertisement offering sex with two women, and arranged a meeting in a room at the hotel. An undercover officer was met by Oats and a young-looking woman, the complaint said. The officer used a code phrase, and law enforcement came in to interview the two women.

The younger woman said she was 17 years old, and Oats was her mother, the complaint said. The complaint also said the teen told law enforcement that they were there to have sex for money, and her mother had brought her on “dates” in the past.

Officers contacted the commander of the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force, who said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had two contacts in the past year regarding the 17-year-old girl, the complaint said. They believed Oats had been trafficking her, the complaint said.

Oats appeared in Yellow Medicine County District Court on Sept. 20, and was granted a public defender. Bail for Oats was set at $25,000 without conditions, or release without bail on conditions including that Oats complete booking, abstain from alcohol and drugs, and follow any instructions from Family Services on having contact with her daughter. Her next court appearance was set for Oct. 28.

All three of the charges against Oats are felonies, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $50,000 fine or both.