General Reports

[Bastardale]

I have an anonymous number I use to text providers (I use TextFree Web - https://messages.textfree.us). I use this to do research before I contact a provider using my burner phone. I do this because I tend to ask a lot of questions, and sometimes asking questions pisses off providers and they'll block you. Anyway, once I ask my questions and get the info I need, I'll use my burner phone to actually setup appointments. As far as I know, there is no connection between my free text number and my burner number. And I obviously never use my real number for this hobby.

Today, shortly after texting a provider I found on craigslist, I got a phone call from a new number. I didn't answer it because TextFree web doesn't actually allow phone calls. I checked google, and the number comes up from one of the Boston PD departments (I forget which one). This has actually happened to me twice in the past few weeks. I assume that the provider I texted is a scam and the Boston PD number was spoofed and that the "provider" intended to blackmail me for texting prostitutes. Which is ridiculous because the first contact text I send is non-committal and definitely not explicit enough to be construed as an offer to solicit prostitution.

Anyway, I was wondering if this is a common occurrence or if this has happened to anyone else recently.

Thank you!

BA.

[SalamanderFour]

No kidding I remember seeing that at the mall like 10 15 yrs ago.

You are mistaken about the circumstances. I know one young woman who did that for a summer. She had none of those onerous restrictions, and used her free time to tour Boston before returning to Israel in the Fall.

[RI CheeseHead]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/08/polit...sts/index.html

Thank you, CNN.

What do you think people are talking about?

[RI CheeseHead]

Can someone define this term? BTT is not listed in the abbreviations, general or regional.

Boston's Top Ten.

[Max Walker86]

As with most things, there are fine lines of distinction the closer one wants to look.

A number of years ago I met a woman via Seeking Arrangements; she was an Israeli working here for one of those pop-ups in a mall that sells cosmetics containing "salt from the Dead Sea. ".

These businesses are pretty notorious. They recruit young people in Israel, fly them here, hook them up with lodging (often 3 or more per bedroom in a 2 or 3 br apartment), and have them work at the store in the mall. Out of whatever on-paper hourly wage they earn, they have to pay back the transportation and lodging. They work around 60-70 hrs / week. And the "managers" keep their passports. They clearly are not free to leave at any time and are maybe closer to "indentured servants" than "slaves" if you will.

No kidding I remember seeing that at the mall like 10 15 yrs ago.

[Param Ahmad]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/08/polit...sts/index.html

[Param Ahmad]

Can someone define this term? BTT is not listed in the abbreviations, general or regional.

[Bran001]

I think the thing here is how we define exploitation.

As with most things, there are fine lines of distinction the closer one wants to look.

A number of years ago I met a woman via Seeking Arrangements; she was an Israeli working here for one of those pop-ups in a mall that sells cosmetics containing "salt from the Dead Sea. ".

These businesses are pretty notorious. They recruit young people in Israel, fly them here, hook them up with lodging (often 3 or more per bedroom in a 2 or 3 br apartment), and have them work at the store in the mall. Out of whatever on-paper hourly wage they earn, they have to pay back the transportation and lodging. They work around 60-70 hrs / week. And the "managers" keep their passports. They clearly are not free to leave at any time and are maybe closer to "indentured servants" than "slaves" if you will.

[Nrlmus]

So if prostitution is illegal because "porn stars are paid to act and prostitutes are paid for sex" then would sex with a camera-friendly prostitute amount to porn? Just brainstorming you know. LOL.

"The distinction is a very fine one and comes down to a string of cases finding that porn performances actually constitute acting subject to the artistic expression protections of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Thus, the distinction is that, at least in theory, porn stars are paid to act and prostitutes are paid for sex. ".

https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/wh...n-is-not-31164

[KashkaiBoy]

I think the thing here is how we define exploitation. I've come to be less and less comfortable with contributing money to the kinds of operations BTT are a part of, which undoubtedly are international organized crime syndicates. Now, I'll grant that many people exaggerate or misunderstand the circumstances that bring the providers into the work they do. From my own experiences, which includes many fairly heartfelt conversations with providers at predecessor agencies (I was a very frequent client of BAD), I've never had a sense that the most horrific stereotypes were true in their cases: kidnapping, beatings, drugging etc. Those things do happen in parts of the underworld, but I've never seen evidence that they characterize the part of the Korean sex industry that services operations like BTT, BAD, etc. I think most are in the business because they are compelled for complicated reasons and they face few if any alternatives to getting themselves or their families out of dire circumstances. I've heard from many Korean women about a similar situation, in which they or their immediate family had to borrow money for urgent needs and then ended up deciding / being encouraged to repay it through sex work. I presume this is a partnership between loan sharks and pimps which ends up with the payment for loans paid back through a few years of being cycling through operations like BTT. WHile I'm sure there are some that do so completely from free will and for financial or other benefit, I think the majority do so out of a certain desperation even if the motivation is more economic. I'm not judging from a high horse, I have certainly partaken in the pleasures of being a client that enjoys the services these businesses offer. But I can still recognize that the service I'm enjoying comes at the price of pain for others, and this does encourage me to put more energy into building relations with indies rather than using these agencies. I know my post will result in some unhinged replies but I think most of us know what the deal is.

I'd like to explore the subject of exploitation. Do you guys really believe that these ladies at BTT were working there of their free will? Or was there any element of force or coercion? It mystifies me that despite a fairly large Asian population, we see very few independent Asians (it is more common in SF and some other areas). Do they join these agencies or AMPs for access to clients and protection? Or are they recruited in the way that gangs recruit, where you have no choice but to agree?

[TheGodsDecree]

I'd like to explore the subject of exploitation. Do you guys really believe that these ladies at BTT were working there of their free will? Or was there any element of force or coercion? It mystifies me that despite a fairly large Asian population, we see very few independent Asians (it is more common in SF and some other areas). Do they join these agencies or AMPs for access to clients and protection? Or are they recruited in the way that gangs recruit, where you have no choice but to agree?

No, no exploitation. They did it because they needed money, and some friends told them it was safe with BTT. Or they came with a specific type of visa with the intent of being sex workers. They also did it seasonally, e. G. , here with a student visa, and they wanted to make some money during the summer break.

I am 100% sure that exploitation is a real issue, but it was not the case with BTT. That's why, in the latest affidavits, they did not mention anything in those terms. However, it is disgusting when you see those "activists" victimizing the sex workers in the BTT case. Bullshit. If LE would follow up on the ladies, many of them would get deported because they are working in other states. LOL.

[Bran001]

That's the only way LEO has a case, by exaggerating the situation, saying they are forced to live where they work, amongst other bullshit. That's their weapon when they try to close down an AMP, saying they saw bedding material where the ladies were sleeping. Hell, sometimes I sleep in my office when it's late. There isn't anything wrong with sleeping where you work. It's just LEO being stupid. BTT ladies know what the fuck they were doing and got filthy rich from it.

You are not familiar with the law in this area.

18 USA C. 2421:

Whoever knowingly transports any individual in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, with intent that such individual engage in prostitution, or in any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

The law makes no distinction whether the individual consented or not.

[Mattis1775]

I'd like to explore the subject of exploitation. Do you guys really believe that these ladies at BTT were working there of their free will? Or was there any element of force or coercion? It mystifies me that despite a fairly large Asian population, we see very few independent Asians (it is more common in SF and some other areas). Do they join these agencies or AMPs for access to clients and protection? Or are they recruited in the way that gangs recruit, where you have no choice but to agree?

That's the only way LEO has a case, by exaggerating the situation, saying they are forced to live where they work, amongst other bullshit. That's their weapon when they try to close down an AMP, saying they saw bedding material where the ladies were sleeping. Hell, sometimes I sleep in my office when it's late. There isn't anything wrong with sleeping where you work. It's just LEO being stupid. BTT ladies know what the fuck they were doing and got filthy rich from it.

[DarkClouds]

I'd like to explore the subject of exploitation. Do you guys really believe that these ladies at BTT were working there of their free will? Or was there any element of force or coercion? It mystifies me that despite a fairly large Asian population, we see very few independent Asians (it is more common in SF and some other areas). Do they join these agencies or AMPs for access to clients and protection? Or are they recruited in the way that gangs recruit, where you have no choice but to agree?

[KashkaiBoy]

Hey Jm, sorry if my posting looked like a refutation of yours -- I was just adding the chain of replies that you'd already addressed. A previous poster had speculated that cause for the reduction in the appeals was due to lack of evidence or the prosecutors getting cold feet about some of the cases because of their only having circumstantial evidence. My point is just that they seem to have pleanty of solid evidence. Circumstantial evidence can be solid and can be used to convict. But I can't speculate about the legal strategies of the defendants.

My point about possible issues with prosecutions is based primarily on what, at the moment, appears to be the reduction in the number of defendants from the originally announced 28 to either 18 or 14 (depending on the report you read).

Based on the number of parties to the SJC appeals, there appears to be an absence of 10-14 appeals that one would reasonably expect to see. A couple of theories have been floated, such as inability to afford a lawyer or waiting to see what the SJC decides. I've addressed in a previous post why I find those explanations unpersuasive. To be clear, I don't claim to know the reason. All I'm saying is that the discrepancy in numbers raises the question as to what's going on behind the scenes.

Bottom line: If all 28 cases were good to go at the time of announcement, 28 cases should be going forward, and one would expect 28 (or close to that number) appeals on the due process and privacy issues. I don't disagree that the delays have been procedural, but that doesn't explain the mystery of what appears to be 10-14 missing defendants. And it's that last point that makes me wonder whether LE and the prosecution truly had their ducks in a row for each and every case. Whatever the explanation, we'll know when things finally get moving again.

P.S. A member sent me a PM that mentioned the controversy regarding the filling of the vacant SJC seat. I replied that, if that serves as a distraction, or if the SJC decides to wait until they have a full complement of justices, we could see further delays. In my reply I also mentioned that, after peeling back the constitutional due process issue, the underlying cases are really just piss-ant misdemeanors. The reason that might be relevant is because the SJC may not see this as an issue that demands immediate attention. But I'm not in MA, so you locals would know better than I how the SJC might act.