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Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Savannah, Georgia (2009)

A sex trafficking case from 2009 in Savannah, Georgia, United States.

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

What happened

Police had received reports from neighboring businesses, legitimate masseuses, and a local woman about the VIP Spa. It featured Asian women in bikini tops and miniskirts offering full-body rub-downs and a range of sexual services for $100-130. The employees were living at the massage parlor, and it stayed open till 2am. It was noted that local men, aged 40-85, were visiting the spa around the clock. The police set up a bust, but the spa was empty. They arrested two of the "employees." One was charged with prostitution and the other was charged with masturbation for hire. They were taken to jail and released on cash bond the next day.

Response and intervention

This was not handled as a trafficking case. The women were viewed as prostitutes, and after their release from jail there was no follow-up.

Sex Trafficking2009

Pooler, Georgia, United States, 2009

United States US

Police had received reports from neighboring businesses, legitimate masseuses, and a local woman about the J Spa. It featured Asian women in bikini tops and miniskirts offering full-body rub-downs and a range of sexual services for $100-130. The employees lived at the massage parlor, and it was open till 2am. It was noted that local men, aged 40-85, were visiting the spa around the clock. The police set up a bust, but the spa was empty. One "employee" was charged with prostitution. She was taken to jail and released on cash bond the next day.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Sex Trafficking2010

North Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 2010

United States US

Rubi Bertaud-Cabrera Age: 27 Charged with one count of importing an alien for an immoral purpose; two counts of bringing in and harboring aliens; one count of transporting for prostitution; and one count of failing to file a factual statement about an alien. Police are now looking for suspected human traffickers Efrain Bertaud-Cabrera, who is described as 5'5", 200 pounds, and about 30-40 years old, and Marcos Antonio Pacheco-Martinez, 5'9", 160 pounds and about 25-35 years old. Victim had been smuggled into this country illegally after Bertaud-Cabrera's mother in Mexico approached the victim's mother about traveling to the United States to care for Bertaud-Cabrara's children, the affidavit said. The offer was first extended when the victim was 16, but her mother resisted until four years later. The victim then traveled to Altar, Mexico, to meet someone who would smuggle her across the border. She paid the smuggler 1,200 pesos, or about $100, the affidavit said. She first was taken to a "stash house" in the Phoenix area for several days, then moved to Atlanta and ultimately to the house on Ginger Lane. She initially did housework there, but Bertaud-Cabrera then told her that she would have to work as a prostitute to pay off her smuggling fee, the affidavit said. The Victim escaped from her alleged abductors and was walking around the Pepperhill subdivision about 7 p.m., according to a police incident report. A woman in the neighborhood saw the victim and called police, said Spencer Pryor, police public information officer. “She looked like a child and she looked confused,” said the caller, a Smoketree Court resident, who asked that her name be withheld. “I didn’t stick around to hear what was wrong with her. I just called police and left.” Using a Spanish-speaking officer as an interpreter, the victim led police to a house on Ginger Lane where she said she had been held against her will for three weeks.

5 sourcesArchive 2008–2016
Sex Trafficking2010

North Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 2010

United States US

One person (Rubi Bertaud-Cabrera, 27) is charged with human trafficking and two others (Efrain Pacheco-Martinez and Marcos Antonio Pacheco-Martinez) were being sought after a 20-year-old woman told police she was smuggled in from Mexico, held captive for three weeks at a house in North Charleston, and forced to have sex.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016