Suitribe
01-03-05, 09:49
The following article appeared in today's News Times. Was surprising to me because it focused on hispanic brothels in Danbury and mentioned several of them were busted this year. I hadn't heard of either.
Http://news.newstimes.com/story.php?id=67907
Danbury police eye sex slavery
Brothels may involve immigrant victims
By Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES
DANBURY — City police are sharing information with a government task force that is trying to shed light on a dark corner of the criminal underworld — human smuggling and sexual slavery.
Danbury detectives this year busted several brothels throughout the city that catered specifically to the growing number of undocumented Hispanic immigrants.
In September, Kevin O'Connor, Connecticut's U.S. Attorney, announced the formation of a state and federal task force charged with stopping the trafficking of illegal immigrants into the state for use as prostitutes, slaves and even mail-order brides.
Now the question is whether the women in the Danbury brothels were victims of a slave labor ring operating in the region.
"Our detective division is working with other law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Immigration and Naturalization enforcement officers," said Danbury Police Capt. Arthur Sullo. "They are working with other law enforcement agencies aware that it could very well be related to allegations of slave labor."
Melanie Danyliw, program manager of education at the Women's Center of Greater Danbury, said she recently attended a training session on forced immigrant labor and sexual slavery put on by law enforcement officials. Danyliw said she learned that Danbury is a prime location for the funneling of slave labor from New York City to various parts of New England.
The U.S. Attorney's Office wanted to know how many people the women's centers are able to shelter, Danyliw said. "Once they do a raid, they have to shelter these women," Danyliw said.
Danyliw said that the Danbury women's center would be able to handle only one or two women.
Some 18,000 people are smuggled into the country each year and sexually exploited or forced into sweatshop-like jobs, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice. Between 3,500 and 5,500 people are smuggled each year from Latin America, according to the report.
"What we are finding is that in terms of women, brothels tend to be dominated by illegal immigrants," O'Connor said. "Are those women there voluntarily or against their will? Those are the types or things law enforcement is interested in."
Just how do immigrant prostitution rings work?
Criminals recruit women in foreign countries by promising a better life. The criminals charge women an exorbitant fee that is supposed to be paid back when the victim arrives in America.
Instead, the women find themselves forced into prostitution.
"The smuggler may bring a woman into this country by making her believe she is going to be brought over to work a normal job to pay off whatever fee was required to get her out of her country," O'Connor said. "Often times, unbeknownst to those women, the work they are required to do is prostitution."
Whether this is the case with the Danbury brothels is not clear.
"I don't know if that has been officially determined," Sullo said. "Those are issues for federal investigators and our detectives to find out if, in fact, they were there voluntary or whether they were working off some type of servitude debt."
Immigrant bordellos made headlines in Danbury on Jan. 30, when Samuel Escobar, 26, was gunned down at an apartment on Division Street. Police said Escobar was a doorman for a brothel operating out of the apartment. Police were told Escobar may have been killed when four men tried to rob the place. There have been no arrests made in the case.
In February, Danbury police estimated there were six brothels operating in the city.
In October 2003, police raided a brothel on Franklin Street and arrested two local men and two out-of-state women. In August, police raided a brothel operating in a house on Kenosia Avenue, where a man was allegedly selling beer to patrons as they waited their turn with prostitutes.
Everyone arrested was from either Queens, N.Y., or New Jersey.
At the time of the Kenosia Avenue raid, police said organized criminal gangs in the region specialized in prostitution. Police said women are often moved to different apartments on a weekly basis.
O'Connor wouldn't say whether the task force is looking at Danbury. However, he said women kept against their will could come from New York City — Queens specifically — because two major airports are nearby.
"The vast majority of immigrants come into the country through our airports," with immigrants using phony documents, O'Connor said.
O'Connor's office has not prosecuted an immigrant prostitution ring in the state.
Part of the problem is that information is tough to collect — even from women kept as sexual slaves.
"When they realize what is happening, they feel they have no place to go because they are in the country illegally. They think if they go to police they will be deported," O'Connor said.
However, federal laws protect illegal aliens who are crime victims from being kicked out of the country. Illegal aliens who report crimes aren't reported to immigration authorities either.
"Unfortunately, I think a lot of these people who are keeping these people against their will use the threat of deportation to maintain their control over them," O'Connor said.
Just who is behind these rings — individual criminal entrepreneurs or large organized crime syndicates — also remains unknown.
"I'm not prepared to say who might or who might not be responsible," O'Connor said. "I'm not sure we know and I don't want to contribute to any rumors. When the time is right we will prosecute the folks behind it."
Danbury's reputation as a destination for illegal immigrants was underscored earlier this month. The Hartford Courant reported that a police officer in El Paso, Texas, stopped a tractor-trailer packed with 26 illegal immigrants. The newspaper reported some of the immigrants were from Ecuador and were bound for Danbury.
Detective Darrel Petry of the El Paso Police Department said the people in the truck said they were on their way to Las Vegas. However, he didn't doubt reports saying they were actually heading to Danbury. "It's like dope coming across the border. There is a whole distribution system," Petry said.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said bordellos are a symptom of a larger problem — the country's inability to police its borders.
"People ask what is the problem with illegal immigration? There is the illegal trafficking of people — almost a slavery situation where they have to work in these bordellos," Boughton said.
"This is the consequence of a federal immigration policy that does not work. They have to figure out a plan to deal with the 11 million people that are living (in the United States) illegally," Boughton said. "They have to figure out a way to tighten up the borders."
The multi-agency task force investigating immigrant smuggling includes state police, local law enforcement, the FBI and federal immigration officials.
The task force is also relying heavily on non-profit organizations, such as women's shelters, to connect police with victims.
"Often the best sources of information are these local service providers who take in battered women," O'Connor said. "Most of these cases begin with a referral from a local service provider, whether it is a local hospital or a health clinic. They may discover something is going on that shouldn't be going on."
Meanwhile, the state legislature also has a task force investigating the problem. State Rep. Andrea L. Stillman, D-Waterford, is chairwoman of the "interagency task force on trafficking in persons."
Stillman's group will first research the problem, find out what needs to be done to help victims and eventually pass laws to deal with immigrant smuggling. A report from the task force to the General Assembly is due January 2006.
"We are specifically concerned with the victims, first," Stillman said. "I would assume by the time all is said and done we will have recommendations that not only address the concerns raised from victims but also to make recommendations for criminal statutes."
Staff writer Karen Ali contributed to this story.
Http://news.newstimes.com/story.php?id=67907
Danbury police eye sex slavery
Brothels may involve immigrant victims
By Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES
DANBURY — City police are sharing information with a government task force that is trying to shed light on a dark corner of the criminal underworld — human smuggling and sexual slavery.
Danbury detectives this year busted several brothels throughout the city that catered specifically to the growing number of undocumented Hispanic immigrants.
In September, Kevin O'Connor, Connecticut's U.S. Attorney, announced the formation of a state and federal task force charged with stopping the trafficking of illegal immigrants into the state for use as prostitutes, slaves and even mail-order brides.
Now the question is whether the women in the Danbury brothels were victims of a slave labor ring operating in the region.
"Our detective division is working with other law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Immigration and Naturalization enforcement officers," said Danbury Police Capt. Arthur Sullo. "They are working with other law enforcement agencies aware that it could very well be related to allegations of slave labor."
Melanie Danyliw, program manager of education at the Women's Center of Greater Danbury, said she recently attended a training session on forced immigrant labor and sexual slavery put on by law enforcement officials. Danyliw said she learned that Danbury is a prime location for the funneling of slave labor from New York City to various parts of New England.
The U.S. Attorney's Office wanted to know how many people the women's centers are able to shelter, Danyliw said. "Once they do a raid, they have to shelter these women," Danyliw said.
Danyliw said that the Danbury women's center would be able to handle only one or two women.
Some 18,000 people are smuggled into the country each year and sexually exploited or forced into sweatshop-like jobs, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice. Between 3,500 and 5,500 people are smuggled each year from Latin America, according to the report.
"What we are finding is that in terms of women, brothels tend to be dominated by illegal immigrants," O'Connor said. "Are those women there voluntarily or against their will? Those are the types or things law enforcement is interested in."
Just how do immigrant prostitution rings work?
Criminals recruit women in foreign countries by promising a better life. The criminals charge women an exorbitant fee that is supposed to be paid back when the victim arrives in America.
Instead, the women find themselves forced into prostitution.
"The smuggler may bring a woman into this country by making her believe she is going to be brought over to work a normal job to pay off whatever fee was required to get her out of her country," O'Connor said. "Often times, unbeknownst to those women, the work they are required to do is prostitution."
Whether this is the case with the Danbury brothels is not clear.
"I don't know if that has been officially determined," Sullo said. "Those are issues for federal investigators and our detectives to find out if, in fact, they were there voluntary or whether they were working off some type of servitude debt."
Immigrant bordellos made headlines in Danbury on Jan. 30, when Samuel Escobar, 26, was gunned down at an apartment on Division Street. Police said Escobar was a doorman for a brothel operating out of the apartment. Police were told Escobar may have been killed when four men tried to rob the place. There have been no arrests made in the case.
In February, Danbury police estimated there were six brothels operating in the city.
In October 2003, police raided a brothel on Franklin Street and arrested two local men and two out-of-state women. In August, police raided a brothel operating in a house on Kenosia Avenue, where a man was allegedly selling beer to patrons as they waited their turn with prostitutes.
Everyone arrested was from either Queens, N.Y., or New Jersey.
At the time of the Kenosia Avenue raid, police said organized criminal gangs in the region specialized in prostitution. Police said women are often moved to different apartments on a weekly basis.
O'Connor wouldn't say whether the task force is looking at Danbury. However, he said women kept against their will could come from New York City — Queens specifically — because two major airports are nearby.
"The vast majority of immigrants come into the country through our airports," with immigrants using phony documents, O'Connor said.
O'Connor's office has not prosecuted an immigrant prostitution ring in the state.
Part of the problem is that information is tough to collect — even from women kept as sexual slaves.
"When they realize what is happening, they feel they have no place to go because they are in the country illegally. They think if they go to police they will be deported," O'Connor said.
However, federal laws protect illegal aliens who are crime victims from being kicked out of the country. Illegal aliens who report crimes aren't reported to immigration authorities either.
"Unfortunately, I think a lot of these people who are keeping these people against their will use the threat of deportation to maintain their control over them," O'Connor said.
Just who is behind these rings — individual criminal entrepreneurs or large organized crime syndicates — also remains unknown.
"I'm not prepared to say who might or who might not be responsible," O'Connor said. "I'm not sure we know and I don't want to contribute to any rumors. When the time is right we will prosecute the folks behind it."
Danbury's reputation as a destination for illegal immigrants was underscored earlier this month. The Hartford Courant reported that a police officer in El Paso, Texas, stopped a tractor-trailer packed with 26 illegal immigrants. The newspaper reported some of the immigrants were from Ecuador and were bound for Danbury.
Detective Darrel Petry of the El Paso Police Department said the people in the truck said they were on their way to Las Vegas. However, he didn't doubt reports saying they were actually heading to Danbury. "It's like dope coming across the border. There is a whole distribution system," Petry said.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said bordellos are a symptom of a larger problem — the country's inability to police its borders.
"People ask what is the problem with illegal immigration? There is the illegal trafficking of people — almost a slavery situation where they have to work in these bordellos," Boughton said.
"This is the consequence of a federal immigration policy that does not work. They have to figure out a plan to deal with the 11 million people that are living (in the United States) illegally," Boughton said. "They have to figure out a way to tighten up the borders."
The multi-agency task force investigating immigrant smuggling includes state police, local law enforcement, the FBI and federal immigration officials.
The task force is also relying heavily on non-profit organizations, such as women's shelters, to connect police with victims.
"Often the best sources of information are these local service providers who take in battered women," O'Connor said. "Most of these cases begin with a referral from a local service provider, whether it is a local hospital or a health clinic. They may discover something is going on that shouldn't be going on."
Meanwhile, the state legislature also has a task force investigating the problem. State Rep. Andrea L. Stillman, D-Waterford, is chairwoman of the "interagency task force on trafficking in persons."
Stillman's group will first research the problem, find out what needs to be done to help victims and eventually pass laws to deal with immigrant smuggling. A report from the task force to the General Assembly is due January 2006.
"We are specifically concerned with the victims, first," Stillman said. "I would assume by the time all is said and done we will have recommendations that not only address the concerns raised from victims but also to make recommendations for criminal statutes."
Staff writer Karen Ali contributed to this story.