Sex Trafficking2011
United States US
Hong Wei, a.k.a. Ms. Chen, 38, from Flushing, NY; Jing Liang, a.k.a. Mike Chen, 31, from Quincy MA; Xiang Hua, a.k.a. Darren Zhang, 27, from Flushing NY; Yu En, a.k.a. Eric Jin, 26, from Quincy, MA; Dong Kai Chem, 41, from Quincy, MA. All were arrested March, 31st, 2010 after a police raid on the Quincy brothel. Two of these men were previously arrested in Aug. 2005 after a police raid on the Peabody brothel run by Ms. Chen & Mike Chen. These traffickers ran several brothels out of various apartments scattered throughout the greater Boston area including Peabody, Quincy, Boston, Wellesly, Newton, Watertown, Somerville, Woburn, Burlington,Medford, Stoneham, & Malden. Most of these brothels have been in operation for at least the past 5 1/2 years. The traffickers enticed Asian women to travel to Massachusettes where they were put to work as prostitutes. They advertised in Chinese language papers in California, New York, & Massachusettes and on Craig's list and in the Boston Pheonix under the female escort section. It is reported that they paid over $13,125 to the Boston Pheonix over a 7 month period. The traffickers transported women by bus to South Station and then by car to various brothels throughout the greater Boston area. The women were lured or tricked into prostitution, being told they would be doing other types of work, and were forced to stay with threats to themselves or other family members and physical abuse if they did not comply with the demands of Ms. Chen. They also forced older women to work as domestic servants in the apartments (brothels) to take care of house cleaning and upkeeping of the apartments and taking care of the younger women as well.
Sex Trafficking2005
United States US
Six men were accused in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday of forcing teenage girls as young as 15 to work as prostitutes, taking them to several states and Bermuda. The charges against Darryl Tavares, 24, of Revere, and two Boston men, Shaun Leoney, 26, and Ruben Porcher, 29, include sex trafficking of children and conspiracy to transport minors across state lines for prostitution. Trueheart Peeples, 30, of Portland, Maine; Eddie Jones, 25, of Boston; and Aaron Brooks, 23, of Quincy are charged with conspiracy to transport minors across state lines for prostitution and other crimes. Prosecutors say the Boston-based group operated from 2001 to 2005 in Massachusetts, Maine, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Florida and Pennsylvania. One of the girls was 15 when Porcher took her to Bermuda for prostitution, according to the indictment. The indictment alleges some members of the group had ties to a network of sex traffickers and met with them in New York City in May 2005 for a "toss-up" event, where pimps trade prostitutes. Leoney and Brooks are accused of driving a teenager to Orlando, Fla., on Memorial Day weekend of 2005 for prostitution activity sponsored by Hoodlum Entertainment, a company owned by two convicted sex traffickers. The indictment alleges that that girl, who was 17, also had worked for Jones and Tavares, and was assaulted at different times when she angered the two men. In April 2005, the indictment alleges, when Tavares believed she had given some of her prostitution earnings to Jones, Tavares and an associate assaulted her. Tavares allegedly instructed the associate to rape her with a hair brush. In early May, she began working for Jones, who kicked in her teeth for talking on her "work" cell phone with a man who was not a prostitution client, according to the indictment. After he disfigured her mouth, the indictment said, Jones "gave" her back to Tavares.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Tahira Juma, a Boston University School of Public Health graduate student, and her husband Saleem Al-Khaboriof, an engineer, faced a federal lawsuit for "engaging in human trafficking and modern day slavery" in 2004. The couple came to Boston in January 2003, from their native country of Oman so that Juma could study at Boston University, according to the suit. Naseem Mohamed Siraj, who had been a member of the couple's household staff in Oman, alleged that the couple threatened to abandon her in Oman with no money to return to her family in India, where she has three children, if she didn't come with them to Boston. In Boston, Siraj was forced to care around-the-clock for four children ages 4-10 and was paid sporadic amounts totaling about $1,250 for 15 months. She had no bed and was fed only the children's leftovers, according to the suit. She was never allowed to leave the home alone and endured "a constant barrage of verbal taunts, abusive language and disobedient behavior from the children," the suit claims. When she vowed to leave, her employers "intimidated Mrs. Siraj by telling her that if she left, she would be arrested and thrown in jail."