Tag: prostitution

Backpage executives to be sentenced after testifying against site founder about the site’s sex ads

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — Two former executives for the now-shuttered classified site Backpage.com are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in Phoenix for conspiring to facilitate prostitution by selling sex ads.

A prosecutor has recommended five years of probation and restitution payments for former CEO Carl Ferrer and sales director Dan Hyer, both of whom pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2018. The prosecutor said both men acknowledged their crimes and cooperated with authorities by testifying against a company founder during the 2023 trial.

Backpage founder Michael Lacey was convicted of a single count of international concealment money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison and fined $3 million, though he remains free while he pursues an appeal. Chief financial officer John Brunst and executive vice president Scott Spear are each serving 10-year sentences for conspiracy and money laundering convictions.

Prosecutors had argued that Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. The operators were accused of giving free ads to sex workers and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the industry to get them to post ads with the company.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and made an effort to try to delete such ads by assigning employees to remove them and creating automated tools. Their legal team maintained the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment.

In pleading guilty, Ferrer acknowledged knowing a majority of Backpage’s revenues came from escort ads, conspiring to sanitize ads by removing photos and words that were indicative of prostitution and publishing a revised version of the notices.

In sentencing memos, both the prosecutor and Ferrer’s attorneys say he helped shut down the site through his cooperation.

His lawyers say Ferrer provided evidence linking defendants to the criminal enterprise and testified that Backpage’s increase in revenue stemmed mostly from prostitution.

Hyer has previously participated in a scheme to give free ads to sex workers in a bid to draw them away from competitors and win over their future business.

His attorney said her client is sincerely remorseful for his actions and contributed directly to the convictions of other defendants.

Lacey’s first trial in 2021 ended in a mistrial when another judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

Before launching Backpage, Lacey founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in 2023 just before the second trial against Backpage’s operators was scheduled to begin.

Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when the government shut it down.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 8, 2025
Backpage executives to be sentenced after testifying against site founder about the site’s sex ads

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — Two former executives for the now-shuttered classified site Backpage.com are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in Phoenix for conspiring to facilitate prostitution by selling sex ads.

A prosecutor has recommended five years of probation and restitution payments for former CEO Carl Ferrer and sales director Dan Hyer, both of whom pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2018. The prosecutor said both men acknowledged their crimes and cooperated with authorities by testifying against a company founder during the 2023 trial.

Backpage founder Michael Lacey was convicted of a single count of international concealment money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison and fined $3 million, though he remains free while he pursues an appeal. Chief financial officer John Brunst and executive vice president Scott Spear are each serving 10-year sentences for conspiracy and money laundering convictions.

Prosecutors had argued that Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. The operators were accused of giving free ads to sex workers and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the industry to get them to post ads with the company.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and made an effort to try to delete such ads by assigning employees to remove them and creating automated tools. Their legal team maintained the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment.

In pleading guilty, Ferrer acknowledged knowing a majority of Backpage’s revenues came from escort ads, conspiring to sanitize ads by removing photos and words that were indicative of prostitution and publishing a revised version of the notices.

In sentencing memos, both the prosecutor and Ferrer’s attorneys say he helped shut down the site through his cooperation.

His lawyers say Ferrer provided evidence linking defendants to the criminal enterprise and testified that Backpage’s increase in revenue stemmed mostly from prostitution.

Hyer has previously participated in a scheme to give free ads to sex workers in a bid to draw them away from competitors and win over their future business.

His attorney said her client is sincerely remorseful for his actions and contributed directly to the convictions of other defendants.

Lacey’s first trial in 2021 ended in a mistrial when another judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

Before launching Backpage, Lacey founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in 2023 just before the second trial against Backpage’s operators was scheduled to begin.

Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when the government shut it down.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 8, 2025
3 Bay Area residents arrested in bust of illicit massage businesses in Sonoma County

[ad_1]

Authorities in Sonoma County have arrested three people and executed multiple search warrants following a 10-month investigation into several massage businesses suspected of illicit activity.

According to the Santa Rosa Police department, the investigation stemmed from an Oct. 2024 inspection of massage businesses, some of which were suspected of human trafficking.

During the operation, warrants were served at the Palm Tree Spa in Santa Rosa and the Daily Care Spa in Petaluma. Three women were rescued from the Palm Tree Spa and were offered services.

Over the course of the investigation, police said detectives identified the three suspects, who were linked to at least five illicit massage businesses in Sonoma County, four of which were in Santa Rosa.

“The three suspects were believed to be involved in a variety of crimes, including pimping, pandering, keeping a house of prostitution, wage theft and other financial crimes, and conspiracy,” police said in a statement.

Search warrants were obtained for the suspects, along with three businesses that were not searched during the operation in October.

With the assistance of the FBI, state officials and code enforcement officers, police served the warrants at locations in Santa Rosa and San Francisco on Tuesday.

The first suspect, identified as 69-year-old Hae Suk Howard, was arrested during a traffic stop around 6:10 a.m. Detectives said they located financial documents linking Howard to several massage businesses along with $2,000 and a customer log during searches of her home and vehicle.

According to police, Howard managed Palm Tree Spa, Daily Care Spa and AAA Spa in Santa Rosa, which has since been shut down.

Around 7:25 a.m., police arrested 68-year-old Allan Nutall of San Francisco without incident. Police said Nutall is the licensee of all the massage businesses in the investigation and is involved with more than 20 additional massage businesses in the Bay Area.

During searches of his home and vehicle, detectives said they located financial documents and cash linking Nutall to the businesses.

Two hours later, authorities served a warrant at the home of 52-year-old Liqun Yao of Santa Rosa. Yao was taken into custody after police said she initially refused to surrender.

On Tuesday afternoon, authorities served warrants at Redwood Wellness on 4th Street, the Santa Rose Healthy Center on College Avenue and the Sunset Spa on 3rd Street. Police said they seized electronic devices, condoms, lingerie and other items at the businesses.

Two women at the businesses sought help and were provided resources, police said.

“The Santa Rosa Police Department has zero tolerance for massage businesses engaged in commercial sex operations,” chief John Cregan said. “These establishments not only violate the law but also exploit vulnerable individuals, often victims of human trafficking.”

Howard, Nutall and Yao were arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail. Police said all three suspects are facing charges of pandering, conspiracy, keeping a house of ill fame and wage theft.

Tim Fang

Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.

[ad_2]

Tim Fang

Source link

August 28, 2025
Prosecutors say Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ request for acquittal or new trial should be swiftly rejected

[ad_1]

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors are urging a federal judge to quickly reject Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ request that he throw out a jury verdict or order a new trial after a jury convicted the music maven of two prostitution-related charges.

Prosecutors said in papers filed shortly before midnight Wednesday that Combs masterminded elaborate sexual events for two ex-girlfriends between 2008 and last year that involved hiring male sex workers who sometimes were required to cross multiple state lines to participate.

A jury in July exonerated the Bad Boy Records founder of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that carried the potential penalty of a mandatory 15 years in prison up to life behind bars. But it convicted him of two lesser Mann Act charges that prohibit interstate commerce related to prostitution.

The Mann Act charges each carry a potential penalty of 10 years behind bars. Combs has been denied bail despite his lawyers’ arguments that their client should face little to no additional jail time for the convictions. Prosecutors said he must serve multiple years behind bars.

Combs has been in a federal jail in Brooklyn since his September arrest at a Manhattan hotel. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Prosecutors wrote that Combs’ attorneys were mistaken when they contended in a submission to the judge late last month that the Mann Act was unduly vague and violates his due process and First Amendment rights.

“Evidence of the defendant’s guilt on the Mann Act counts was overwhelming,” prosecutors wrote.

They noted that the multiday, drug-fueled sexual marathons that Combs demanded of his girlfriends involved hiring male sex workers and facilitating their travel across multiple states for what became known as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”

Prosecutors said he then used video recordings he made of the sexual events to threaten and coerce the girlfriends to continue participating in the sometimes weekly or monthly sexual meetings.

“At trial, there was ample evidence to support the jury’s convictions,” prosecutors said.

They said Combs “masterminded every aspect” of the sexual meetups, paying escorts to travel across the country to participate and directing the sexual activity that took place between the men and his girlfriends “for his own sexual gratification” while sometimes joining in.

Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, an R&B artist who dated Combs from 2008 through 2018, testified during the trial that Combs sometimes demanded the sexual meetups with male escorts every week, often leaving her too exhausted to work on her music career. She said she participated in hundreds of “freak-offs.”

A woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” said she participated in “hotel nights” when she dated Combs from 2021 to last September and that the events sometimes lasted multiple days and required her to have sex with male sex workers, even when she was not well.

Both women testified that Combs had threatened to release videos he made of the encounters as a way of controlling their behavior.

“During these relationships, he asserted substantial control over Ventura and Jane’s lives. Specifically, he controlled and threatened Ventura’s career, controlled her appearance, and paid for most of her living expenses, taking away physical items when she did not do what he wanted,” prosecutors wrote.

“The defendant similarly paid Jane’s $10,000 rent and threatened her that he would stop paying her rent if she did not comply with his demands,” they said.

In their submission requesting acquittal or a new trial, Combs’ lawyers argued that none of the elements normally used for Mann Act convictions, including profiting from sex work or coercion, existed.

“It is undisputed that he had no commercial motive and that all involved were adults,” the lawyers said. “The men chose to travel and engage in the activity voluntarily. The verdict confirms the women were not vulnerable or exploited or trafficked or sexually assaulted.”

The lawyers said that Combs, “at most, paid to engage in voyeurism as part of a ‘swingers’ lifestyle” and argued that “does not constitute ‘prostitution’ under a properly limited definition of the statutory term.”

[ad_2]

Source link

August 21, 2025
Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch head to be arraigned on sex trafficking and prostitution charges

[ad_1]

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is expected to be arraigned Friday on federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges in a New York court.

Prosecutors allege that for nearly two decades, Michael Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man lured men into taking part in sex parties by dangling the promise of modeling for the clothing retailer, once famous for its preppy, All-American aesthetic and marketing with shirtless male models.

In charges announced earlier this week, prosecutors say some 15 unnamed accusers were induced by “force, fraud and coercion” to engage in drug-fueled sex parties in New York, England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts between 2008 and 2015. During the events, the men were sometimes directed to wear costumes, use sex toys and endure painful erection-inducing penile injections, according to the indictment.

The allegations echo sexual misconduct accusations described in media reports and made in a civil case against Jeffries, who left Abercrombie in 2014.

Jeffries’ attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment ahead of the Friday afternoon appearance in federal court on Long Island, where Jeffries is expected to enter a plea on the charges.

A lawyer for James Jacobson, an employee of Jeffries’ also due to be arraigned, declined to comment other than to say his client will be pleading not guilty.

Jeffries was released on a $10 million bond after appearing in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

His partner, Matthew Smith, who also appeared in court in Florida, was ordered detained after prosecutors raised concerns that the dual U.S.-British citizen might flee the country.

Jacobson, who prosecutors say recruited men for the sex parties, was arrested in Wisconsin and released on a $500,000 bond during his initial appearance in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jeffries took over as CEO of Abercrombie in 1992, presiding over the evolution of the company from its roots as a hunting and outdoor goods store founded in Manhattan in 1892 to a fixture of teen mall culture during the early 2000s.

Abercrombie, in a statement posted on Instagram after the arrests, said it was “appalled and disgusted” by the allegations.

The Ohio-based company, which also owns the clothing brand Hollister, said it has “transformed” its brands and culture in the decade since Jeffries departed.

Abercrombie stopped using “sexualized” photos in marketing materials and ended the practice of calling store staffers “models.” It hired an outside law firm last year to conduct an independent investigation into similar allegations against Jeffries.

“Speaking up and coming forward is not easy, and our thoughts remain with those who have bravely raised their voices as part of the federal investigation,” the company wrote in its statement Wednesday. “We have zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind, and are committed to fully cooperating with law enforcement as the legal process continues.”

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 24, 2024
What led to ex-Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries’ sex trafficking charges?

[ad_1]

What led to ex-Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries’ sex trafficking charges? – CBS News

Watch CBS News

The former CEO of clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has been arrested on federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges. Mike Jeffries, his partner and a third associate are accused of recruiting young men under the guise of modeling opportunities and coercing them to perform sex acts. BBC News investigations correspondent Rianna Croxford breaks down the case.

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 22, 2024
2 women accused of human trafficking after police find brothel in East San Jose home

[ad_1]

PIX Now afternoon edition 9-26-2024

PIX Now afternoon edition 9-26-2024

08:40

Two women were arrested for alleged human trafficking after police said they found a brothel operating at a home in East San Jose earlier this month.

According to officers, the department’s Human Trafficking Task Force received multiple tips from the community about a suspected brothel on the 2700 block of McKee Road, near North Capitol Avenue. Following a month-long investigation, the task force and multiple SJPD units executed a search warrant at the home on Sep. 11.

As the search warrant was being served, two adult female human trafficking survivors were found. Police said the women were provided services.

Officers located and arrested the two suspects in San Jose. The suspects, identified as 55-year-old Xiaohong Yang of Mountain House and 53-year-old Mei-Chen Juan of San Jose, were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of human trafficking.

(L-R) Xiaohong Yang of Mountain House and Mei-Chen Juan of San Jose are accused of running a brothel out of an East San Jose home.

San Jose Police Department

Police did not say when the pair would appear in court.

Anyone with information about suspected human trafficking is asked to contact the Human Trafficking Task Force at 408-537-1999. Additional information about this case should be sent to Detective Goldberg of the task force over email or by calling 408-537-1224.

Tim Fang

Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.

[ad_2]

Tim Fang

Source link

September 26, 2024
Prostitution in plain sight prompts Oakland community condemnation

[ad_1]

OAKLAND — Residents of Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood are demanding the city do something about rampant prostitution and sex trafficking.

They held a community meeting Saturday on 13th Avenue and International Boulevard where a lot of the activities continue to take place.

As elected leaders talked about plans and solutions, across the street from the stage two sex workers were waiting for customers on the busy boulevard.

“We see this every day. It doesn’t cross our mind like ‘Oh, this should not be happening here. Oh, this is Oakland, it’s regular,’” said high school senior Trang Nguyen.

Many in attendance said the sight of sex workers walking in thongs and see-through tops has become normal.

“Me and my friends joke about it, that’s how normal it is,” Nguyen said.

Community groups invited elected leaders to the town hall. They want authorities to go after the pimps and johns.

“A member of the board of supervisors, an assembly member and district attorney all saying we’re going to partner and work with the community because we know it’s going to take all of us. That hasn’t happened before,” said Oakland council president Nikki Fortunato Bas.

She thinks new partnerships can improve street conditions.

“We are committed to solutions. I personally have been committed in terms of the environmental changes,” Fortunato Bas said.

Last year, the city added barricades on a portion of East 15th Street to stop illegal prostitution and neighbors said they worked but it only pushed the sex workers back to International Boulevard.

Many families that live on the street said they feel like prisoners in their own homes. Children walk pass sex workers to get in and out of the neighborhood.

“The city allows it to happen and so the city and the county and everybody that’s involved that has power to do something about this, by not doing it, it is allowing the business to flourish,” said David Kakishiba, executive director of East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC).

Nguyen shared on stage that, last year, someone in a large van followed her and tried to kidnap her while she was walking to a store one afternoon. A good samaritan helped her and they called the police. She believs the crime was related to sex trafficking.

“I can’t walk around my neighborhood freely, I’m always looking behind me. I always have to bring a pepper spray. I had to buy a taser,” Nguyen said.

Elected leaders made promises at the event but Nguyen said talk is cheap. She believes in results.

“I’m not optimistic that this issue will get solved. I’m just hoping it’ll get better,” Nguyen said.

More from CBS News

Da Lin

Da Lin is an award-winning journalist at KPIX 5 News. He joined KPIX 5 in 2012, but has been reporting the news in the Bay Area since 2007. Da grew up in Oakland, and before his return to the Bay Area, he spent five years covering the news at three other television stations in Texas, Southern and Central California. He also spent five years reporting at KRON 4.

[ad_2]

Da Lin

Source link

April 27, 2024
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Fast Facts | CNN

[ad_1]

CNN
—

Here is a look at the life of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director.

Birth date: April 25, 1949

Birth place: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

Birth name: Dominique Gaston Andre Strauss-Kahn

Father: Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, a legal and tax advisor

Mother: Jacqueline Fellus, a journalist

Marriages: Myriam L’Aouffir (October 2017-present); Anne Sinclair (1991-2013, divorced); Brigitte Guillemette (1984-date unavailable publicly, divorced); Helene Dumas (1967-date unavailable publicly, divorced)

Children: with Brigitte Guillemette: Camille; with Helene Dumas: Vanessa, Marine and Laurin

Education: HEC Paris (École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris), Public Law, 1971; Paris Institute of Political Studies (Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris), Political Science, 1972; University of Paris, Ph.D., Economics, 1977

His 2010 IMF salary was tax free, amounting to more than $500,000 with perks.

Taught economics at the prestigious Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, commonly known as Sciences Po, and at Stanford University in California.

Was considered to be the leading contender to run against Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2012 presidency of France.

1981-1986 – Deputy Commissioner of the Economic Planning Agency.

1986 – Wins election to France’s National Assembly – the lower house of parliament.

1988-1991 – Chairs the Finance Commission.

1991- 1993 – Minister of Industry and International Trade under President Francois Mitterrand.

1997-1999 – Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry. Resigns amid allegations that as a practicing lawyer he was involved in party campaign funding irregularities. Strauss-Kahn is later cleared of the charges.

2001-2007 – Elected three times to the French National Assembly.

2006 – Loses to Segolene Royal for the Socialist Party’s presidential nomination.

November 1, 2007-May 18, 2011 – IMF Managing Director.

2008 – Is reprimanded by the IMF for a relationship with a subordinate, Piroska Nagy.

May 14, 2011 – Is escorted off an Air France flight headed to Paris and taken to a New York police station for questioning about the alleged sexual assault of a Sofitel Hotel housekeeping employee. The hotel employee says that Strauss-Kahn attempted to force himself on her when she came to clean his room. By the time police officers arrived, Strauss-Kahn had already left the Manhattan hotel.

May 14, 2011 – Is charged with attempted rape and imprisonment of the hotel employee.

May 16, 2011 – Is denied bail and transferred to New York’s Rikers Island jail.

May 18, 2011 – Resigns his position with IMF. His 2007 contract includes a severance package with a $250,000 one-time payout and a smaller annual pension.

May 19, 2011 – Is indicted on seven counts: two counts of a criminal sexual act, two counts of sexual abuse, and one count each of attempt to commit rape, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.

May 19, 2011 – Is granted bail based on these conditions: home confinement, the surrender of his travel documents, and the posting of $1 million in cash bail and a $5 million bond.

June 6, 2011 – Pleads not guilty to all seven charges.

July 1, 2011 – Is released from house arrest after prosecutors disclose that the accuser admitted to lying about certain details.

July 4, 2011 – French journalist Tristane Banon’s lawyer says that Banon will be filing a complaint claiming Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in 2003. In anticipation of the filing, Strauss-Kahn files a counterclaim against Banon for “false declarations.”

July 5, 2011 – Banon files a criminal complaint against Strauss-Kahn, alleging attempted rape.

August 8, 2011 – Nafissatou Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault, files a civil lawsuit against him.

August 23, 2011 – All sexual assault charges against Strauss-Kahn, related to Diallo, are dismissed at the request of the prosecutor.

September 3, 2011 – Leaves New York to return to France.

September 18, 2011 – In an interview with French television station TF1, Strauss-Kahn says the incident at the Sofitel Hotel was “not only an inappropriate relationship, but more than that – an error, a mistake, a mistake concerning my wife, my children, my friends, but also a mistake that the French people placed their hope in change on me.”

October 13, 2011 – French prosecutors announce that charges will not be filed against Strauss-Kahn for the alleged sexual assault of Banon due to a lack of sufficient evidence and a statute of limitations that applies to the case.

February 21-22, 2012 – Is questioned by French police about an alleged prostitution ring possibly operated out of luxury hotels.

March 26, 2012 – Strauss-Kahn is warned that he is under investigation for “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

May 14, 2012 – Files a countersuit for at least $1 million against Diallo, the Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault.

May 21, 2012 – A French investigation into Strauss-Kahn’s alleged involvement in a prostitution ring widens. Authorities say that police will open a preliminary inquiry into acts that allegedly took place in Washington, DC, in December 2010, which they believe could constitute gang rape.

October 2, 2012 – A French prosecutor drops the investigation connecting Strauss-Kahn to a possible gang rape in Washington, DC. The testimony on which the investigation is based has been withdrawn and the woman is declining to press charges.

December 10, 2012 – Diallo and Strauss-Kahn reach a settlement in her civil lawsuit against him. Terms of the settlement are not released.

July 26, 2013 – Prosecutors announce that Strauss-Kahn will be tried on charges of “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring.

September 17, 2013 – It is announced that Strauss-Kahn has been appointed as an economic adviser to the Serbian government.

February 2, 2015 – The trial concerning “aggravated pimping” charges against Strauss-Kahn begins.

February 17, 2015 – A prosecutor tells a French criminal court that Strauss-Kahn should be acquitted of aggravated pimping charges because of insufficient evidence. The Lille prosecutor’s office said in 2013 that evidence didn’t support the charges, but investigative magistrates nevertheless pursued the case to trial.

June 12, 2015 – Strauss-Kahn is acquitted of charges of aggravated pimping.

February 2016 – Is named to the supervisory board of Ukrainian bank Credit Dnepr.

June 2016 – Strauss-Kahn and seven others are fined in civil court after the anti-prostitution group Mouvement du Nid appeals the June 2015 acquittal. Strauss-Kahn is ordered to pay more than $11,000 in damages to the group.

December 7, 2020 – Netflix releases “Room 2806: The Accusation,” a documentary series covering the 2011 sexual assault case involving Strauss-Kahn and Diallo.

December 15, 2022 – Le Monde reports that French authorities are investigating Strauss-Kahn for potential tax fraud related to his consulting activities in Morocco. Strauss-Kahn was one of dozens whose financial secrets and offshore dealings were released in the “Pandora Papers” by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2021.

[ad_2]

Source link

April 10, 2024
3 women charged in alleged prostitution ring at massage parlors in Frederick – WTOP News
[ad_1]

Three women were charged for their role in an alleged prostitution ring at a number of Frederick, Maryland, massage parlors.
Three women were charged for their role in an alleged prostitution ring at a number of Frederick, Maryland, massage parlors.

Jinchan Yang, Xiaohing Wan and Yuxia Chang were charged with multiple crimes, including second-degree assault and prostitution, according to a Frederick Police Department news release.

The police department said it began an investigation in collaboration with the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office after receiving anonymous tips about alleged prostitution activities at Frederick City massage parlors in January.

Search warrants were executed at the following at locations on Tuesday, March 5:
- 1337 Taney Avenue
- 1446 Key Parkway
- Aromatherapy Body Rub — located on 93 S. McCain Drive, Suite 2
- TCM Aroma Therapy — located on 1517 W. Patrick Street, Suite C
- Two Sisters — located on 178 Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 103
A search warrant was also issued for a 2023 Lexus RX350 SUV.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
[ad_2]

Tadiwos Abedje

Source link
March 10, 2024
2 East Bay Catholic schools closing; one closure due to ‘rising crime, human trafficking’

[ad_1]

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Two East Bay private Catholic schools are closing at the end of the school year, the Oakland Diocese confirmed to the I-Team. One of the closures is due to a rise in crime, including human trafficking operations near the campus.

Parents at “St. Anthony Catholic School” received notice two weeks ago, according to an email sent from the Oakland Diocese. Aside from crime, the notice says the closure is tied to homelessness, unemployment, lack of affordable housing, as well as human trafficking operations near the school.

Enrollment at the K-8 grade school declined to 65 students.

The I-Team first broke the story about human trafficking operations in this area one year ago – where video shows young girls and alleged pimps surrounding the campus. It prompted action from the FBI to put up cameras in the area and install traffic barricades near the school campus.

RELATED: Video showing alleged sex workers soliciting outside East Oakland school sparks call for action

Video showing alleged sex workers soliciting right outside St. Anthony’s in East Oakland is raising concerns about human trafficking in the area.

The Oakland Diocese says the St. Anthony school community is facing “overwhelming financial challenges,” despite large investments.

A former school parent, Rosa Vargas, says families are worried about finding a safe alternative for their kids.

RELATED: Oakland police, FBI take action to assess trafficking concerns near school after I-Team report

Oakland officials say city will enhance patrols and install new cameras after I-Team’s report revealed possible human trafficking outside a school.

“It’s really hard to get into good schools, it’s really hard,” Vargas said. “And for us parents that are paying to get our kids in a safe school… it’s hard because if we take our children to another school…. we’re told they’re not at grade level.”

The Oakland Diocese told ABC7 News “Our Lady of Guadalupe” in Fremont is also closing. It’s unclear what’s prompting that closure. The ABC7 News I-Team has reached out for more information, but we are still waiting to hear back.

Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

[ad_2]

Stephanie Sierra

Source link

February 21, 2024
Jurors hear opposite views of whether Backpage founder knew the site was running sex ads

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — Jurors at the criminal trial of a founder of the classified site Backpage.com heard opposite views in closing arguments of whether the founder knew there were ads for prostitution on the site.

Prosecutor Kevin Rapp told jurors on Thursday and Friday that Michael Lacey, who along with four former Backpage employees are accused of taking part in a scheme to knowingly sell sex ads, was aware of the content of ads that had text and images indicative of prostitution. Most of the site’s revenues came from adult ads, Rapp said.

“It’s not coming from (ads for) apartments, automotive or jobs,” Rapp said.

Paul Cambria, an attorney for Lacey, said his client was focused on running an alternative newspaper chain and wasn’t involved in day-to-day operations of Backpage and that there’s no evidence that Lacey saw the 50 ads at issue before his trial. Based on the site’s cooperation with law enforcement, Lacey had a good-faith belief that Backpage was being operated lawfully, Cambria said.

“Why would you think you were breaking the law if the police were asking you to work with them?” Cambria asked jurors on Friday.

It’s the second trial for Lacey and four former Backpage employees, whose first trial ended in a September 2021 mistrial when a judge concluded that prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

In all, Lacey and the group of former employees have pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.

Lacey had founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when it was shut down by the government.

The site’s marketing director has pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business. Additionally, the CEO of the company when the government shut the site down , Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.

Prosecutors say Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. They are accused of giving free ads to sex workers and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company.

Authorities say Backpage employees would identify prostitutes through Google searches, then call and offer them a free ad. The site also is accused of having a business arrangement in which it would place ads on another site that lets customers post reviews of their experiences with sex workers.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex, and assigned employees and automated tools to try to delete such ads. Their legal team maintains the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors said the moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the true nature of the ads.

Rapp told jurors that Backpage was clearly on notice about the problems with its ads, saying news organizations and groups that advocated against sex trafficking had called out Backpage.

Rapp pointed to testimony from Ferrer about when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told Backpage that it had sex ads on its site. Lacey got upset and said the group’s mission focused on exploited children, not on adult prostitution, Rapp told jurors.

Cambria raised questions about the credibility of testimony by Ferrer and the other Backpage employee who pleaded guilty, saying they want the government to recommend a more lenient sentence for their cooperation.

Lacey’s attorney also said Backpage cooperated with authorities by responding to subpoenas for records and that the assistance provided by the site led to charges against pimps and prostitutes.

Cambria showed jurors a May 2011 certificate of appreciation that was issued to Ferrer and signed by then-FBI Director Robert Mueller for Backpage’s assistance in an investigation.

A Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday, when lawyers for other defendants will making their closing arguments.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 27, 2023
Jurors hear opposite views of whether Backpage founder knew the site was running sex ads

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — Jurors at the criminal trial of a founder of the classified site Backpage.com heard opposite views in closing arguments of whether the founder knew there were ads for prostitution on the site.

Prosecutor Kevin Rapp told jurors on Thursday and Friday that Michael Lacey, who along with four former Backpage employees are accused of taking part in a scheme to knowingly sell sex ads, was aware of the content of ads that had text and images indicative of prostitution. Most of the site’s revenues came from adult ads, Rapp said.

“It’s not coming from (ads for) apartments, automotive or jobs,” Rapp said.

Paul Cambria, an attorney for Lacey, said his client was focused on running an alternative newspaper chain and wasn’t involved in day-to-day operations of Backpage and that there’s no evidence that Lacey saw the 50 ads at issue before his trial. Based on the site’s cooperation with law enforcement, Lacey had a good-faith belief that Backpage was being operated lawfully, Cambria said.

“Why would you think you were breaking the law if the police were asking you to work with them?” Cambria asked jurors on Friday.

It’s the second trial for Lacey and four former Backpage employees, whose first trial ended in a September 2021 mistrial when a judge concluded that prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

In all, Lacey and the group of former employees have pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.

Lacey had founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when it was shut down by the government.

The site’s marketing director has pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business. Additionally, the CEO of the company when the government shut the site down , Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.

Prosecutors say Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. They are accused of giving free ads to sex workers and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company.

Authorities say Backpage employees would identify prostitutes through Google searches, then call and offer them a free ad. The site also is accused of having a business arrangement in which it would place ads on another site that lets customers post reviews of their experiences with sex workers.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex, and assigned employees and automated tools to try to delete such ads. Their legal team maintains the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors said the moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the true nature of the ads.

Rapp told jurors that Backpage was clearly on notice about the problems with its ads, saying news organizations and groups that advocated against sex trafficking had called out Backpage.

Rapp pointed to testimony from Ferrer about when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told Backpage that it had sex ads on its site. Lacey got upset and said the group’s mission focused on exploited children, not on adult prostitution, Rapp told jurors.

Cambria raised questions about the credibility of testimony by Ferrer and the other Backpage employee who pleaded guilty, saying they want the government to recommend a more lenient sentence for their cooperation.

Lacey’s attorney also said Backpage cooperated with authorities by responding to subpoenas for records and that the assistance provided by the site led to charges against pimps and prostitutes.

Cambria showed jurors a May 2011 certificate of appreciation that was issued to Ferrer and signed by then-FBI Director Robert Mueller for Backpage’s assistance in an investigation.

A Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday, when lawyers for other defendants will making their closing arguments.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 27, 2023
Lawyers argue indicted Backpage employees sought to keep prostitution ads off the site

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — A former executive and two operations managers for classified site Backpage.com worked vigorously to keep the platform free of ads for prostitution even as strategies on how to do so constantly shifted, their attorneys said Tuesday at a federal trial in Phoenix.

Defense lawyers for Scott Spear, Andrew Padilla and Joye Vaught had their turn to make opening statements against charges of facilitating prostitution and money laundering. They highlighted how all three made great efforts to work with authorities, whether it was by giving testimony, sharing key user information or taking calls in the middle of the night.

“Backpage was viewed in law enforcement as the most cooperative site,” said Bruce Feder, the attorney for former executive vice-president Spear. “They thought they were doing good. They wanted to get abusers off their site.”

Joy Bertrand described how Vaught “battled bad apples” for nine years. As the assistant operations manager, Vaught worked to keep ads that could be seen as proposing sex acts or were just “trashy” from being posted. Bertrand read from an email Vaught sent to a staff moderator in 2014 pointing out ads with several violations that had slipped through.

“She was proud of the job she had. She bragged about it,” Bertrand said. “As you see each piece of the government’s evidence, please view it with skepticism.”

Padilla’s attorney described how he rose from having an $11-per-hour job to becoming a full-time operations manager. At one point, he was helping oversee 200 site moderators out of an office in Dallas. But under Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer, the standards used to screen for potential prostitution ads were not clear, attorney David Eisenberg said.

“This system constantly evolved, which led to confusion at his job,” Eisenberg said. “Who’s the guiding light here? Not my client.”

The three are co-defendants alongside Backpage founder Michael Lacey and former chief financial officer John Brunst, whose attorneys made opening statements last month.

This is the second trial of all five on charges in what authorities say was a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the classified site.

All five have pleaded not guilty to facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.

The first trial ended in a mistrial in September 2021 when a judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

Lacey founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when it was shut down by the government.

The site’s marketing director has pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business. Ferrer pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.

Prosecutors say Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. They are accused of giving free ads to prostitutes and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company.

Authorities say Backpage employees would aggregate more users by identifying prostitutes through Google searches, then call and offer them a free ad. The site also is accused of having a business arrangement in which it would place ads on another site that lets customers post reviews of their experiences with prostitutes.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and used people and automated tools to try to delete such ads. They maintain the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment.

Prosecutors said the moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the true nature of the ads.

Lacey also is accused of using cryptocurrency and wiring money to foreign bank accounts to launder revenues earned from the site’s ad sales after authorities say banks raised concerns that they were being used for illegal purposes.

At trial, the Backpage defendants are barred from bringing up a 2013 memo by federal prosecutors who examined the site and said at the time that they hadn’t uncovered evidence of a pattern of recklessness toward minors or admissions from key participants that the site was used for prostitution.

In the memo, prosecutors had said witnesses testified Backpage made substantial efforts to prevent criminal conduct on its site and coordinated such efforts with law enforcement agencies. The document was written five years before Lacey, Larkin and the other former Backpage operators were charged in the Arizona case.

A Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 12, 2023
Backpage founder faces 2nd trial over what prosecutors say was a scheme to sell sex through ad sales

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — A founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com will face his second trial on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money in what authorities say was a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the site.

Jury selection for Michael Lacey and four former Backpage employees will resume for a second day Wednesday in federal court. Their first trial ended in a mistrial in September 2021 when a judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

Lacey had founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when it was shut down by the government.

In all, five former Backpage operators have pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.

The site’s marketing director has pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business. Additionally, the CEO of the company when the government shut the site down, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.

Prosecutors say Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. They are accused of giving free ads to prostitutes and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company.

Authorities say Backpage employees would identify prostitutes through Google searches, then call and offer them a free ad. The site also is accused of having a business arrangement in which it would place ads on another site that lets customers post reviews of their experiences with prostitutes.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and used people and automated tools to try to delete such ads and maintain the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors said the moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the true nature of the ads.

Lacey also is accused of using cryptocurrency and wiring money to foreign bank accounts to launder revenues earned from the site’s ad sales after authorities say banks raised concerns that they were being used for illegal purposes.

At trial, the Backpage defendants are barred from bringing up a 2013 memo by federal prosecutors who examined the site and said at the time that they hadn’t uncovered evidence of a pattern of recklessness toward minors or admissions from key participants that the site was used for prostitution.

In the memo, prosecutors had said witnesses testified Backpage made substantial efforts to prevent criminal conduct on its site and coordinated such efforts with law enforcement agencies. The document was written five years before Lacey, Larkin and the other former Backpage operators were charged in the Arizona case.

A Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, who had declared a mistrial during the first attempt to try the Backpage defendants, had allowed evidence showing that people were trafficked using the site, but cautioned prosecutors not to linger on details of the abuse. “It seemed the government abused that leeway,” Brnovich said when declaring a mistrial.

In a pretrial ruling, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa, who is presiding over the second trial, repeated that warning to prosecutors.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 29, 2023
Backpage founder faces 2nd trial over what prosecutors say was a scheme to sell ads for sex

[ad_1]

PHOENIX — A founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com will face his second trial on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money in what authorities say was a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the site.

Jury selection for Michael Lacey and four former Backpage employees is scheduled to begin Tuesday in federal court. Their first trial ended in a mistrial in September 2021 when a judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge.

Lacey had founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and died by suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies such as The Village Voice and ultimately sold their newspapers in 2013. But they held onto Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until 2018, when it was shut down by the government.

In all, five former Backpage operators have pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others have pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.

The site’s marketing director has pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business. Additionally, the CEO of the company when the government shut the site down, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.

Prosecutors say Backpage’s operators ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some involving children. They are accused of giving free ads to prostitutes and cultivating arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company.

Authorities say Backpage employees would identify prostitutes through Google searches, then call and offer them a free ad. The site also is accused of having a business arrangement in which it would place ads on another site that lets customers post reviews of their experiences with prostitutes.

Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and used people and automated tools to try to delete such ads and maintain the content on the site was protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors said the moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the true nature of the ads.

Lacey also is accused of using cryptocurrency and wiring money to foreign bank accounts to launder revenues earned from the site’s ad sales after authorities say banks raised concerns that they were being used for illegal purposes.

At trial, the Backpage defendants are barred from bringing up a 2013 memo by federal prosecutors who examined the site and said at the time that they hadn’t uncovered evidence of a pattern of recklessness toward minors or admissions from key participants that the site was used for prostitution.

In the memo, prosecutors had said witnesses testified Backpage made substantial efforts to prevent criminal conduct on its site and coordinated such efforts with law enforcement agencies. The document was written five years before Lacey, Larkin and the other former Backpage operators were charged in the Arizona case.

A Government Accountability Office report released in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers had decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government, because law enforcement was familiar with the site and Backpage was generally responsive to requests for information.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, who had declared a mistrial during the first attempt to try the Backpage defendants, had allowed evidence showing that people were trafficked using the site, but cautioned prosecutors not to linger on details of the abuse. “It seemed the government abused that leeway,” Brnovich said when declaring a mistrial.

In a pretrial ruling, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa, who is presiding over the second trial, repeated that warning to prosecutors.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 28, 2023
Another harrowing escape puts attention on open prostitution market along Seattle’s Aurora Avenue

[ad_1]

SEATTLE — A vanload of church volunteers drove along a main street in north Seattle one night last month with sandwiches, water bottles and blankets for homeless people. They didn’t find any — but they did see dozens of barely clothed women walking along the road or leaning into traffic to advertise their services.

“Just woman after woman after woman,” recalled one of the volunteers, Stuart Jenner. “We prayed for them as we drove south.”

About two hours later, the FBI said, a man posing as an undercover police officer shackled and abducted a woman from the area after soliciting her to engage in prostitution. He then drove her hundreds of miles to his home in southern Oregon, where he locked her in a makeshift cell in his garage — a cinder block cage with a metal door, charging papers say. She escaped by punching the door, bloodying her knuckles, until it broke.

Authorities say they are looking for more possible victims after linking the man, Negasi Zuberi, to violent sexual assaults in at least four other states. His newly appointed public defender, Devin Huseby, declined to comment Thursday.

The July 15 abduction is one of at least three cases in the past year in which police say women engaged in prostitution along Aurora Avenue had to make harrowing escapes or otherwise be rescued after being held against their will, and it raised questions about the consequences of tolerating an open sex market along the busy thoroughfare.

“The Aurora Avenue North corridor has been a longstanding public safety challenge with human trafficking, street prostitution, drug dealing, and gun violence,” Jamie Housen, a spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, said in an email.

Seattle has been clamping down, Housen said. Police regularly make arrests in the area and issued nuisance notices last week to two budget motels on Aurora that authorities said were hotbeds of prostitution and other crime.

Aurora, an urban highway also known as State Route 99, is one of the city’s main north-south arterials. Especially known for prostitution is a stretch of about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) close to the city’s northern limit that is flanked by home-improvement stores, single-story businesses, strip malls and cheap motels.

Residents have noticed a dramatic increase in the activity since the pandemic struck in 2020, as the Seattle Police Department has contended with a severe shortage of officers.

That was also the year the City Council eliminated loitering crimes as they relate to drug trafficking and prostitution. Loitering charges were rarely filed anyway, but the council cited the racist history of such laws, which were preceded by Jim Crow-era vagrancy statutes designed to target formerly enslaved people, in eliminating them.

Last November, a 20-year-old woman who had been trafficked along Aurora tried to escape her pimp by jumping nearly naked out of the third-floor window of a home in south Seattle where she’d been kept. The escape failed, and after the pimp drove her back up to Aurora, she tried again, this time running from him and sitting topless in the roadway. A rideshare driver stopped and rescued her — and then engaged in a rolling gunfight with the pimp, who chased them in his car, police said.

The defendant in that case, Winston Burt, was arrested soon after and now faces federal sex trafficking and gun charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Last month, a 19-year-old man and 17-year-old boy were charged with trafficking two young women out of one of the motels on Aurora, after one of the women called her father to report she was being held against her will.

The city followed up by declaring the Emerald Motel and the Seattle Inn to be chronic nuisances. The declaration requires the owners to submit a plan explaining how they will prevent their properties from being used for criminal behavior, Housen said. Failure to comply can result in fines.

Calls to those establishments seeking comment did not go through Thursday, with an automated message saying the lines were busy.

“Human trafficking takes a tragic, significant, and unacceptable toll on victims and the entire community,” Housen said. “Mayor Harrell recognizes that addressing this issue requires more than just law enforcement, including a special emphasis on victim services, support, and advocacy.”

Cory Cocktail, the co-founder of the Seattle sex worker outreach organization Green Light Project, said sex work is inherently risky, but outdoor work is especially dangerous because of the difficulty in vetting clients. The closing of the motels to prostitution could make it even worse, he said, because workers might be more likely to resort to getting into clients’ cars instead.

And without a consolidated community based around the motels, it would be harder for sex workers to look out for each other, Cocktail said.

“I unfortunately have been expecting something like this to happen,” Cocktail said. “I hate saying that out loud, but the circumstances being what they are, predators are empowered to hurt people right now.”

For Jenner, who volunteered through his church, University Presbyterian, for a late-night shift with the Union Gospel Mission’s “Search and Rescue Program” on July 14, learning that an abduction had occurred just hours later reminded him of Gary Ridgway, the Green River serial killer, who terrorized the region in the 1980s. Ridgway picked up some of his victims, many of them sex workers, along the same stretch of Aurora.

One of Ridgway’s victims, Mary Bridgett Meehan, 19, was a classmate of Jenner.

“My fervent hope is that this story can help someone to do something about all the prostitution that is on northern Aurora Avenue in Seattle,” Jenner wrote in an email to elected officials Wednesday.

___

Manuel Valdes in Seattle contributed.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 4, 2023
Wahida Clark’s Innovative Publishing Delivers a Captivating Warning to Women About the Perils of Prostitution and Pimps With the Release of ‘Diary of a Pimp’s Wife’

[ad_1]

This scandalous tale, featuring Mr. Cheeks of the Grammy-nominated Hip-Hop group The Lost Boyz, is an intriguing recount of a true story.

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y., March 13, 2023 (Newswire.com)
–
On Tuesday, March 14th, Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing will release the highly-anticipated, true-slaying novel, “Diary of a Pimp’s Wife,” written by entertainment industry veteran Karen Joy with a feature by Hip-Hop Artist Mr. Cheeks. In the book, through a diary, Karen Joy engages readers in a story about a woman living with her common-law husband while he struggles to establish himself as one of Long Island, New York’s most respected pimps. His selfish and ruthless ambitions easily thwart her desire to live an honest life, and the protagonist quickly becomes intertwined in his illegal operation.

Through the “Diary of a Pimp’s Wife” pages, Karen Joy hopes to inspire women globally to heed the dangers of pimps, prostitution and sex trafficking. “Sadly, so many lives have been destroyed and lost through pimping and prostitution,” she states. “I want young women to know that true love does not exist when it involves her selling her body or being physically and emotionally abused by their partner.”

“We are excited to add ‘Diary of a Pimp’s Wife’ to our literary roster and Karen Joy to our list of stellar authors,” states Wahida Clark, founding CEO of Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing.

To celebrate the long-awaited release of her soul-stirring story, Karen Joy is co-hosting a book release party with Uncle Murda at 8 pm on Thursday, March 16th, inside Club 112, at Wheeler Road in Central Islip, New York.

“Diary of Pimp’s Wife” will be available worldwide on Amazon.com and everywhere where books are sold.

About Diary of a Pimp’s Wife

Diary of a Pimp’s Wife chronicles the trials and tribulations of an up-and-coming pimp from 2008 through 2013 when he lived in Long Island, New York with his then common-law wife. Nothing worked for him until the summer of 2008 when his love for money led him into a dangerous, treacherous pimp game. While she strived to build a country club, he trained to be a ruthless pimp.

About Karen Joy

Long Island, New York Native Karen Joy Stewart is a Founder and CEO of Pineapple Dreamz LLC, a boutique entertainment firm producing live parties and concerts.

About Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing

Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing (WCIP) represents the culmination of the dream of a Black woman, a former prison inmate, who now enjoys the distinction afforded by being a 4-time New York Times Bestseller.

Source: Wahida Clark Presents Innovative Publishing

[ad_2]

Source link

March 13, 2023
Woman gets 4+ years in jail for harming college schoolmates

[ad_1]

NEW YORK — A New York woman who admitted aiding an ex-convict’s decade-long plot to extort and sexually abuse his daughter’s Sarah Lawrence College schoolmates was sentenced Wednesday to over four years in prison by a judge who called her critical to his scheme.

Isabella Pollok must report to prison by April 25 to begin serving a 4 1/2-year sentence that U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman said resulted from her failure to rebel against Lawrence Ray’s crimes.

The judge said Pollok participated in “extreme and sadistic violence” in committing “extremely serious” crimes after being recruited when she was 19 and vulnerable.

“Your role was nonetheless critical,” he said, noting she took steps to prevent a former schoolmate from escaping years of prostitution that produced millions of dollars for Ray. “You were in no means innocent.”

Ray, 63, was sentenced last month to 60 years in prison after his conviction following a trial in which his victims described how he convinced them that they had poisoned him before forcing them to make amends by doing work for him, obeying his commands and paying him cash.

Pollok, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge last September, stood between her lawyers and sobbed as she briefly spoke before being sentenced.

“I believed and supported someone who controlled me in ways I cannot understand. I will live with the guilt forever,” she said through her tears. “I badly hurt my friends and I am ashamed and deeply regret it. I am truly sorry.”

Pollok, who graduated from the Westchester County school where Ray met most of his victims, faced up to five years in prison.

Her lawyers, who asked that she serve no prison time or receive home detention as an alternative, blamed Ray for manipulating their client after meeting her when she was near-suicidal after a childhood with a mother addicted to drugs and a father and brother in prison.

Liman said the sentence he imposed was in part for Pollok’s cruelty to a woman who Ray had forced into prostitution. The judge said she “gleefully” participated in an assault on the woman in a hotel room where, among other things, she was choked and suffocated with a plastic bag.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Keenan said Pollok had played an “active role” in Ray sadistic acts, including handing “him a plastic bag so he could suffocate her college friend.”

Keenan said Pollok also kept a catalogue on her computer of video recordings of her former schoolmates in compromising sexual positions or supposedly admitting they had harmed Ray so she could retrieve the “collateral” if Ray wanted to discipline anyone.

“The next time I see you, you will be in a jumpsuit,” the prosecutor said Pollok once wrote to the woman Ray had forced into prostitution.

Defense attorney David Bertan said Pollok had no lifeline when she met Ray, who brainwashed her.

He noted that the woman forced into prostitution had written to the judge requesting leniency for Pollok.

Bertan said Pollok was rebuilding her life in part by working at an Amazon warehouse.

“I don’t see that a cult victim should have to go to jail for being in a cult,” he said.

Outside court, Bertan said he was disappointed by the sentence.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 22, 2023
Movie producer Dillon Jordan sentenced to 5 years in prison for operating prostitution ring:

[ad_1]

A California movie producer was sentenced in New York City to the maximum five years in prison Thursday after he admitted operating a high-end prostitution service for seven years, providing women to wealthy clients for up to $15,000 and organizing sex parties in the U.S. and abroad.

Dillon Jordan, of Lake Arrowhead, California, was sentenced in Manhattan. U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan said he would have imposed a longer prison sentence if he had the authority to do so, citing the permanent physical and emotional scars the women sustained.

Jordan pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count and five years was the maximum sentence available.

Producer Dillon D. Jordan arrives for the special screening of “Skin” at the Arclight in Hollywood on July 11, 2019.

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Prosecutors said Jordan operated the business from 2010 to 2017 through a purported party and event planning company and his actual movie production company.

They said in a presentence submission that Jordan tried to parlay his prostitution business to produce legitimate movies, since several investors and well-known producers were also clients of his prostitution ring. At least one client invested $250,000 in Jordan’s movie projects, they said.

Jordan is listed among dozens of producers on films including the 2018 film “The Kindergarten Teacher,” which featured Maggie Gyllenhaal, and the 2019 movie “The Kid,” which starred Ethan Hawke.

At sentencing, Jordan apologized to the victims.

One victim who spoke during the two-hour hearing said she nearly died a decade ago when Jordan invited her to a party and then fed her a mix of drugs that left her permanently brain damaged.

“I never wanted to prostitute my body,” she said, pausing to collect herself before urging the maximum sentence.

The judge said prison was appropriate for a man who operated a prostitution ring that earned him at least $1.4 million.

“To be sure, this was an illegal operation that Dillon Jordan ran and one that caused real harm to real women. And, as we saw today, permanent harm,” Cronan said.

Prosecutors said Jordan was released from a prison in Cuba in 2010 after serving eight years for sex crimes there, and he immediately began linking wealthy individuals he knew with high-end prostitutes, charging between $3,000 and $15,000 per encounter. The government said he pocketed about 40% of the fee.

They said he once boasted that 75 women worked for him, including some he sent abroad to a madam in the United Kingdom.

In a presentence submission, defense lawyers wrote that Jordan entered the sex industry after a “horrific childhood that was replete with physical, sexual, and psychological abuse” but left the prostitution business in 2017 and established himself in the film business before becoming a home design consultant.

They said he was not a traditional pimp, but rather was paid fees to organize parties with adult sex workers or to arrange large events, or to book women to attend bachelor parties and adult-themed shows.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release that Jordan had “operated and profited from an extensive prostitution business that catered to wealthy men and was predicated on the exploitation of young women.”

Trending News

[ad_2]

Source link

February 9, 2023