Domestic Servitude2009
United States US
According to Washington Post, Ms. Baoanan is suing her former employers for lack of pay and 126-hour workweeks. A judge in NY has ruled that diplomatic immunity will not protect the Bajas, since the maid served in a private function and not in a diplomatic function. The case is still proceeding through the courts. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/19/AR2009091901864.html
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
The madam was a senior citizen and the prostitute was just a kid. Vice cops raided a grimy midtown brothel called Episodes, where a 64-year-old hustler oversaw a stable of women - the youngest just 15 - giving "sex massages," police sources said. The W. 38th St. whorehouse was decidedly low-rent - mattresses on the floor of tiny rooms and a sign advertising $1 bottles of water, sources said. "I know things are tough, but $1 isn't going to break anyone," read the sign in the fourth-floor sex pad. Cloth butterflies and small "Phantom of the Opera" masks were the only decor in stark contrast to the majestic West End building where alleged madam Noreen Williams lived. Cops said Williams had been hustling prostitutes since at least 1997, which was news to her neighbors. "She was just a normal, polite old woman. She's always walking her two dogs. She doesn't dress flashy," said a stunned West End resident. When cops raided Episodes on Thursday afternoon, Williams was booking clients, and a 15-year-old hooker was getting ready to turn a trick in one of the back rooms, sources said. Williams told cops she had no idea the young Hispanic girl was only a high school student, sources said. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/08/15/2009-08-15_brothel_offered_teen_sex_cops_say_madam_64_ran_grimy_midtown_biz.html#ixzz0Que2LfQk
Sex Trafficking2009
United States US
A pair of aspiring models were turned into sex slaves after two fiendish pimps responded to their Craigslist ads, lured them to a Midtown hotel and forced them to have sex with up to 60 men, authorities said. Two savvy pimps, Jason Breska, 38, of Brooklyn, and Sabina Rabinovich, 36, of Florida, responded to the ads while trolling the Internet for potential sex victims, cops said. One of the women had posted an ad looking for a "position in pornography." The thugs, who are childhood friends, promised the women modeling careers with health benefits and dates with clients, police said. They even paid for their travel expenses from Ridgewood, NJ, and Sun Valley, Calif., police said. The women -- ages 21 and 27 -- ended up at the La Quinta Hotel at 17 West 32nd Street, where they were allegedly forced into the sex industry. Using the name "Joey," Breska oversaw the operation and collect all the money - never giving a penny to the victims, cops said. Rabinovich, who went by the name "Charlie," would set up the sexual liaisons by calling the victims to inform them she was sending over a client, police said On June 7, Breska allegedly raped the 27-year-old woman in a room at the hotel. Between, June 8 and June 15, the same victim was forced to have sex with up to 60 men and kept at the hotel through "scare tactics," such as threats to tell their families. At the same time, the 21-year-old victim was kept in a room while having sex with a constant stream of Johns for two straight days.