SlaveryMap
Open the mapMap
Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Oakland, California (2011)

A sex trafficking case from 2011 in Oakland, California, United States.

This page describes exploitation and abuse. Need to report something? How to report →

Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Members of a prostitution ring are charged with bringing Asian women into the Bay Area from Taiwan and China and forcing them into prostitution. Investigations began approximately a year before the arrests after neighborhood complaints about suspected prostitution activities in a home. The investigation revealed the home to be part of a chain of brothels. Law enforcement estimates that the chain had brought dozens of women into the country. Arrests were made in 10 locations around the Bay Area. Eight people were arrested, and ten women were brought into protective custody. The suspects were charged with conspiracy, pimping, pandering and human trafficking. They were all charged in the Alameda County Superior Court. “The suspects could face federal charges in addition to the local charges because federal agencies were part of the investigation.” (SF Examiner)

Response and intervention

Law enforcement followed up on neighborhood complaints, resulting in a year-long investigation that led to eight arrests on January 20, 2011 The investigation was carried out by multiple agencies, including Alameda County District Attorney's Office; the police departments in Hayward, Oakland, Berkeley, Sunnyvale, Newark, Danville and San Jose; the sheriff's offices in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties; the California Department of Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigations; the Internal Revenue Service; and the U.S. Attorney's Office. No details available

Nearby cases

All 892 in the United States →
Sex Trafficking2007

Oakland, California, United States, 2007

United States US

In the plea agreement, pled guilty in United States District Court yesterday to two counts of transporting a minor for purposes of prostitution under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) and one count of transporting a person for purposes of prostitution under 18 U.S.C. § 2421. Mr. Bryant has agreed to serve a prison term of 96 months, with a subsequent term of supervised release of eight years. In addition, Mr. Bryant will be required to register as a sex offender. The prosecution, part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood, is the result of the combined efforts of the Union City Police Department, the Mesa, Arizona Police Department, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office - Fremont Branch, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Project Safe Childhood is a national initiative launched last year by the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at combining federal, state and local law enforcement resources in order to bring more Internet-related child exploitation prosecutions, and to educate the public about the dangers that the Internet poses to children. Michelle Morgan-Kelly, the District’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of legal assistant Cynthia Daniel.

1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Sex Trafficking2011

Oakland, California, United States, 2011

United States US

Mahendar "Mike" Singh, 40, and his wife, Helen Jean Singh (née Kearney), 22, are accused in an indictment, filed Dec. 1, 2011 of conspiring to traffic teenage females to provide sex acts to customers in exchange for money and other things of value. Mahendar Singh was arraigned Tuesday and pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in Oakland. Helen Jean Singh's arraignment is set for Dec. 8., 2011 According to the indictment, the defendants recruited teenagers by promising them money, drugs and a "family-like environment." Instead, the couple allegedly maintained control over the victims by using physical force and threats of physical force, and fostering a climate of fear. According to court documents, the defendants advertised their prostitution enterprise, which operated in Sacramento County and multiple Bay Area counties, over the Internet. An affidavit filed in the case alleges the defendants used an Internet website to advertise their victims and employed cell phones and text-messaging to make arrangements with customers. That affidavit states the defendants were arrested Aug. 20, 2011 after the South San Francisco Police Department responded to a motel near the San Francisco airport and found Mahendar Singh with a 19-year-old and two 16-year-olds.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016