Police allege human trafficking at Natick spa
Police allege human trafficking at Natick spa.
Posted Jan. 29,2014 at 12:01 am.
Updated at 7:41 AM.
Chinese women, lured to Natick with a promise of a good job at a day spa, were instead held against their will to serve in the sex trade and even forced to pay to live as virtual prisoners.
The women were forced to live at the Oasis Spa at 10 Cochituate St., ordered to perform sexual acts on men and were charged to sleep on massage tables in what became their unwanted homes, prosecutor xxx xxxxx alleged in Framingham District Court on Tuesday.
Natick Police arrested two women, xxxx xxxx, 45, xxxxx, and. Why., and xx xxxx, 39, who lives at the spa, on Monday at 5:12 pm After an investigation, xxxx said.
Natick Police recently received a complaint from a former spa employee. She told police she had answered an advertisement in a Chinese language newspaper to work at the Oasis Spa. She was promised a job where she would be doing facials and nails, xxxxx said.
However, when she arrived at the spa, she quickly learned that wasn't true.
"She was told she was not allowed to leave," said xxxxx. "She was only given bread and potatoes to eat.".
Instead of doing normal spa work, the woman was ordered to perform massages and perform "happy endings," where she masturbated men who came into the massage parlor. The women were paid $20 per man, while the rest of the money went to the massage parlor, the prosecutor said.
The women "were then charged $10 a night to sleep on the massage tables," xxxx said.
On Monday, an undercover Natick Police officer went into the massage parlor. After being offered to have a sexual act performed on him by xxxx, which was witnessed by xxxxx, both women were arrested.
Xxxxx, whose name is listed as the licensee in charge of the massage parlor, is charged with deriving support from sexual servitude. Xxxx is only charged with sexual conduct for a fee.
Both women were scheduled to be arraigned in Framingham District Court on Tuesday, but no Mandarin language interpreter was available. Xxxxx said she planned to ask for $100,000 bail for xxxxxx.
"There were people being forced to live there against their will," said xxxxx. "This is a very serious case.".
Xxxx lawyer, xxxxx xxxxx, argued against having an arraignment because xxxx did not speak English. He said he could not speak to her and she could not understand anything that was going on.
Judge xxxxxx xxxxx released xxxx without bail but ordered xxxxx held without bail until today to be arraigned with the assistance of an interpreter.
- See more at: [URL]http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140129/NEWS/140126025/1998/NEWS[/URL]#sthash. Zg8 PzcYa. Dpuf.
Sex workers launch a bold strategy to overturn prostitution laws in the courts
It's an interesting article worth reading. Perhaps! Just perhaps change could happen!
[URL]http://48hillsonline.org/2014/01/28/sex-workers-launch-a-bold-strategy-to-overturn-prostitution-laws-in-the-courts/?fb_action_ids=642963922406539&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B588683907878346%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D[/URL]
Craigslist Sting- December 2013 Three more busted in Brookline prostitution sting
Dec 16,2013 at 4:21 PM.
Brookline.
A Craigslist sting set up over a week ago by Brookline Police to curb the sex-for-drugs trade resulted in three more arrests since Thursday, bringing the total up to seven.
Xxxx xxxx, xxxx xxxx, and xxxx xxxx were arrested for answering an online "Casual Encounters" ad set up by Brookline Police to bait people looking to exchange drugs for sex.
Xxx was arrested on Friday, Dec. 13, after answering a post that read, "crazy new lifeTime w4 m- 21 (Brookline)," which was posted by Brookline Police. A capital T is used as a reference to methamphetamines, according to the police report.
Xxx allegedly set up a time to meet and when he arrived at the location, he was arrested by police. Officers found $100 on xxx. He was charged with sexual conduct for a fee.
Xxxxx was arrested on Friday, Dec. 13, after allegedly answering an ad posted by Brookline Police titled, "Morning Excitement w4 m- 24 (Brookline).".
He set up a time and location to meet, and when he showed up, Brookline Police arrested him. Xxxx was charged with sexual conduct for a fee.
xxxxxx allegedly answered an ad posted by Brookline Police titled "Sunflower Seeds-w4 m.".
After "many" text messages were exchanged, xxxxxxx allegedly said he could get "snow," a code word for cocaine, in exchange for sexual favors. He agreed to meet in Brookline to conduct the transaction.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, when xxxx arrived at the location, he was arrested. Police allegedly found cocaine and marijuana in his possession. He was charged with sexual conduct for a fee, and possession of a Class be and Class the drug, as well as a drug free school and park zone violation.
Police arrested four men earlier this month who allegedly responded to similar ads that they posted.
- See more at: [URL]http://www.wickedlocal.com/x2132764711/Three-more-busted-in-Brookline-prostitution-sting[/URL]#sthash. S4 fCV6 ZP. Dpuf.
Braintree Man Among 18 Would-Be Johns Nabbed in Online Sting
Seven Boston men and another 11 from the suburbs have been charged with seeking sex for a fee from Boston Police detectives in an online prostitution sting, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced Tuesday.
The defendants were arrested during two operations executed by the Boston Police Human Trafficking Unit and district detectives.
The first, undertaken downtown on Jan. 24, netted the following defendants, all charged with seeking sex for a fee:
Xxxx, 45, of Braintree, also charged with possession of a Class E substance with intent to distribute.
Xxxx, 50, of Millville.
Xxxx, 22, of Chestnut Hill.
Xxxx, 41, of Newton, also charged with resisting arrest.
Xxxx, 51, of Lexington.
Xxxx, 52, of Newbury, and. H.
Xxxx, 52, of the South End.
Xxxx, 39, of Plymouth.
Xxxx, 33, of Brighton.
Xxx was arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court on Jan. 27; xxxx on Jan. 28, and the remainder on Jan. 29. Xxx, xxxx, xxxx who had no criminal records resolved their cases on that date by paying $1,000 fines and watching a video from Project TRUST about the risks associated with prostitution.
Conley's office and the state's Interagency Human Trafficking Policy Task Force have called for a first-offender program or "john school" like those used in other states, but such a program has yet to be implemented in Massachusetts.
Most defendants agreed to pay $200 or more for sex when they contacted Boston Police online, but xxx allegedly offered to pay with xxxx, a prescription medication sometimes used as a tranquilizer, and I'm allegedly negotiated a price of just $45.
The remaining BMC defendants were released on their own recognizance and are due back in court on various dates between Feb. 21 and May 5.
The second operation targeted individuals seeking to trade illicit drugs for sex and was undertaken in South Boston on Jan. 31, when the following defendants were arrested for seeking sex for a fee:
Xxxx, 30, of Brighton.
Xxxx, 29, of Dorchester, also charged with possession of a Class be substance for Percocet recovered at his arrest.
Xxxx, of Dorchester, also charged with possession of a Class be substance with intent to distribute for cocaine recovered at his arrest.
Xxxx, 47, of Stow.
Xxxx, 43, of Middleton, also charged with possession of a Class E substance with intent to distribute for Adderall recovered at his arrest.
Xxxx, 26, of Chelmsford, also charged with three counts of possession of a Class be substance with intent to distribute for cocaine, ecstasy, and Percocet recovered at his arrest.
Xxxx, 32, of Brookline, also charged with possession of a Class be substance with intent to distribute for cocaine found at his arrest.
Xxxx, 33, of Stoughton.
Xxxx, 37, of South Boston, also charged with possession of a Class be substance with intent to distribute for cocaine recovered at his arrest.
In recent years, Boston Police have shifted from a model targeting those working as prostitutes to one that seeks to drive down demand by targeting johns. Under Conley's leadership, Suffolk prosecutors are using the same tactic by seeking penalties that are stronger for those who buy or seek to buy sex than those with similar criminal histories who sell or seek to sell it.
Each of these defendants was arraigned yesterday in South Boston Municipal Court, where all nine are due back on various dates throughout March and April.
"Research consistently shows prostitution to be linked with violence, coercion, sexual assault, and drug addiction," Conley said. "The average age of entry into the sex trade is in the young teens. Our diversion programs for exploitation victims are nationally-recognized, but the other side of that strategy is reducing demand through stings like this one. If the physical and emotional risks associated with prostitution don't cause would-be johns to re-think their actions, here's another reason: the person who placed that online ad could be a Boston Police detective.".
In a landmark 2006 policy shift, Conley voluntarily adopted a "safe harbor" policy for prostituted youth, treating them as victims of exploitation rather than offenders; that voluntary policy was later expanded statewide in Massachusetts' 2011 human trafficking legislation, to which Conley and Attorney General Martha Coakley contributed key language.
Members of Conley's staff also direct the Support to End Exploitation Now program, a multi-agency task force that connects young exploitation victims with a wide array of services and has twice been named a Top 50 Innovative Government Program by a Harvard University think tank.
[URL]http://braintree.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/braintree-man-among-14-wouldbe-johns-nabbed-in-online-sting[/URL]