The data
Every case on SlaveryMap, drawn from public sources and shown with its location deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
631 of 1,631 cite a source · Updated
Showing 361–384 of 548
United States US
The Sex Crimes Unit of the Memphis Police raided the trafficker's apartment and found "cash, receipts, ledgers, gels and body cleaning solutions" as well as condoms.
Malaysia MY
the victim came under Punitha's care after she was sweet-talked by agents in India that she could get a job as a maid in Malaysia. During her confinement, the victim was forced to provide sexual services to 20 to 25 men daily and her earnings were taken by Punitha. She was also threatened by Punitha that if she refused, her family in India would be killed by gangsters there. the victim managed to escape to the Indian High Commission before making a police report. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=ViewsColumnsSectionPage&id=1f20bf9b-b476-4e7f-be7e-94714041a61e&Headline=Indian+woman+gets+8+yrs+for+forced+prostitution
Argentina AR
Law Enforcement has only been involved in a way that permits the sex industry and benefits from it.
Peru PE
The child is not considered a citizen because she does not have a birth certificate and therefore, cannot seek the assistance of law enforcement.
United States US
Len Wah Chong, also know as Lisa Tsui, was arrested along with her husband, Che Ngan Tqui, also known as Allen Tsui, and her brother, Kim Poh Chong and Wei Shang. They were charged with operating massage parlors or acupressure spa establishments as fronts for prostitution and human trafficking. Between August 2004 and Ocober 2007, Len Wah Chong, 43 years old, trafficked at least 11 women to exchange sexual favors for money. Chong pleaded guilty in April 2008 to sex trafficking of persons by force, fraud, and coercion. She and her family operated four massages in the greater Buffalo region: Lotus Acupressure Spa in Lockport; Golden Acupressure and Lucky J Fortune Teller, 3571 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Wheatfield, NY; Lotus Acupressure, 2302 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Tonawanda, NY; and the Lotus Spa in Niagara Falls, NY. Chong's plea agreement with the U.S. District Attorney's Office requires her to pay $350,000 in restitution to 11 former "employees" and an additional $350,000 in forfeiture to the federal government. She was sentenced to six years in prison and five years supervised release. As part of the plea, Chong agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the ongoing investigation into human trafficking in northern New York massage parlors. U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn is quoted in the Niagara Gazette (4/17/08): "She [Chong] admitted to being the person to coerce these women to the area, many of them not knowing - they thought they were coming here to be legitimate massage therapists, but once they got here they realized what they were really here for and did not have the ability to leave." The Chongs (Tsuis) and her brother are naturalized US citizens, and Zhang has permanent residence status. They are originally from China, as were nearly all of their trafficking victims. The criminal complaint says that the women were treated as sex slaves, expected to work off their passage to the USA that had been financed by the traffickers. As a side note, on March 20, 2008, retired Lockport Police Captain John Trowbridge, 60, pleaded guilty in federal court to transporting a local massage parlor worker (undocumented) from one of Chong's spas to Kentucky for the purposes of prostitution. The arrest occurred on October 28, 2005, for a meeting of the Royal Order of Jesters, an international fraternal society. That ties into a whole series of corruption angles to the case. Despite opposition from block clubs and local business owners, the Chongs were able to gain Zoning Board approval for their Lotus Acupressure Spa in Niagara Falls thanks to the ardent support of then-Mayor Vincenzo Anello, according to the Niagara Falls Reporter (12/18/07). Mayor Anello convinced the board that the spa and acupressure were legitimate. Assemblyman Robin Schimminger wrote a letter supporting Chong saying that her spa "be a welcome addition to your business community." The Niagara Falls Development Corp even offered a $10,000 grant for Lotus Spa to help them get started. The 77-page criminal complaint filed by the US District Attorney's Office refers to customers known as "the judge," "the police captain," "the sheriff," and one survivor she offered regular free services to "an immigration officer" in order to get his help in bringing her son into the United States. "The judge" is even quoted in the criminal complaint as giving Chong advice on how to run the club and how his referrals (friends) should be treated.
United States US
A 22 year old Burmese male, not a U.S. citizen, and a 23 year old white male have been charged with forced labor and trafficking with respect to forced labor. The 2 men tricked a 16 year old girl, a naturalized citizen, from Buffalo, New York into traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana with them. The men invited the girl to a party in Fort Wayne and the girl agree to go with them, believing Fort Wayne to be a nearby community. She fell asleep in the car and woke up to see signs for Pennsylvania and Ohio. She screamed at the driver to turn around and let her use his cell phone. He refused. Upon arrival in Fort Wayne, the men pulled into a park and one of the trafficker climbed into the back seat and beat the girl while the other prevented her escape. After 3 weeks in an unknown location, the trio re-located to an apartment in Autumn Woods, at 6011 Salisbury Drive, Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were joined by one of the traffickers' wife and children. They later moved to Logansport. During the time the girl was held in captivity, she was forced to cook, do housework, and watch the children for no pay. At one point, she was locked in a room for 2 days without food by the wife. She was also beaten repeatedly. After the move to Logansport, the 22 year old trafficker began raping her. The girl became pregnant after she was raped in August, but was no longer pregnant by the time she was rescued. A witness reports that she was hit in the stomach by one of the men. While in Fort Wayne, the girl was not allowed out of sight of the two men, who spoke only in Burmese so she could not understand them. The girl was eventually taken out in public by the two men and was forced to use an alias. She was told that she would be arrested as a runaway if she tried to return to Buffalo, N.Y. and was told that it was dangerous to go outside. Her identification documents were taken from her, and her naturalization paper was torn up. http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/JG/20081113/LOCAL03/811130304 http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/506337.html http://www.wlfi.com/dpp/news/local_wlfi_logansport_teen_held_as_sex_slave_200811131040
United Kingdom GB
Oriental Gems was an "online brothel", which specialized in girls from the South East Asia. A gallery on the site showed photographs of more than 60 naked and semi-naked women. Many of them were effectively commodities who had been traded and invested in by "bondholders". Southwark Crown Court heard that Oriental Gems was run by Pongpoj Pitayatanakul, his brother Bordee, and Pongpoj's girlfriend Monthira Duangthip, all from Guildford, Surrey. They employed four men as drivers and assistants: Panya Peakaew, from Paddington, west London, Nopharat Charoenying, and Graipich Vudto, from Bayswater, central London, and Thatri Pornpaditkong, from central London. One specific case is of a woman - advertised on the website as "Helen" – who had been "bought" from her traffickers by a syndicate of two women and a man for £11,000 and then told she would have to pay her "bondholders" £30,000 to win her own freedom. Brian O'Neill, prosecuting, said she effectively had to sleep with 300 men, at £100 a time, to buy herself out of a modern-day form of slavery. The "bondholders", who effectively owned several of the women and expected them to pay off their £30,000 debt, were two women, Jirapha Sriwicha, of Hendon, north London and Sutima Khongpon, and Phanusak Kaewbenjarkarn, both from Streatham, south London. Metropolitan Police’s Chief Superintendent Ian Dyson, in charge of the Clubs and Vice Unit has said, “What is notable about this gang is the level of exploitation that the women had to work under - their debt bondages are the highest we have ever come across - in the region of £28,000.”
United States US
Alena Okhotina (a Russian national) paid for her 18-year-old niece to fly to Los Angeles from Russia. Upon arrival, Okhotina took her niece's passport and declared she would have to work as a prostitute and told her she would be arrested for her illegal status in the U.S. if she went to the police. The teenager engaged in prostitution in California and in Las Vegas, Nevada. Okhotina took the money the teen earned.
United States US
In early 2007, Jerome Eugene Todd, 28, recruited a female victim to work as a prostitute in Lynnwood, Washington. TODD and an indicted co-defendant photographed the woman and posted her pictures on the internet through Craigslist offering commercial sex acts. TODD set the prices for the sex acts, and provided the female victim with cell phones so he could manage her activities. He told the victim that she needed to follow his rules, and threatened to beat her. On three occasions he beat the woman and grabbed her by the throat. Also in 2007, he trafficked the woman to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he had her work as a prostitute. In July 2007, TODD recruited a second victim to work as a prostitute, also in Lynnwood, Washington. He controlled all of her activities, set strict rules, and threatened her repeatedly. He directed her to respond to prostitution calls, and to hand over all of the money to him. He did not allow the second woman to contact family or friends. On two occasions, he assaulted her when she attempted to disobey his rules and to escape. In September 2007, TODD enticed a third victim to work as a prostitute. Similar to the first and second victims, he had this woman’s photograph posted on Craigslist, advertising services for sex. TODD again imposed harsh rules that the woman had to abide by, and would assault her when he believed that she was intending, or did, violate his rules. He also physically blocked her from leaving him by requiring this woman to place all of their assets and financial debts in her name to compel her to work for him. TODD used the proceeds from these three women to rent rooms at motels and apartments, purchase condoms, lubricants, cell phones, airplane tickets, and lingerie, and placed ads in Seattle Weekly. He also used the criminal proceeds to support a lavish lifestyle, and purchased high-end jewelry and clothing. Todd may have used some of the profits to make back child support payments. He owes more than $70,000 to seven different women for his kids, all under the age of 7, according to court records filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. Records show that Todd made payments during the months he allegedly ran the prostitution ring. Some of those payments were as little as $5. One woman told detectives Todd stashed his money in boxes at home, afraid if he used a bank the state would seize his earnings to pay off his back child support. Todd also faces additional charges for allegations that he violated the conditions of his federal probation. Todd was convicted of bank fraud in 2004 and has been under federal supervision since then. Todd also has a warrant for his arrest for failing to make complete child support payments. Todd describes himself as a "private caregiver" who sometimes has trouble collecting from his clients. He doesn't have any employment history. His probation officer noted that Todd often arrives in lavish vehicles driven by different women and always has money on him, according the search warrant. Two of the women who worked for Todd believe he may have earned up to $300,000 during the past two years.
United States US
Lynwood police arrested 15 people in a prostitution sting centered on escorts who advertised on the Craigslist Internet site. Detectives from Lynwood and Everett joined I.C.E. agents in making the arrests. Those arrested included 10 women, aged 17-47 and five men. Two of the women were underage. The females were from cities in the Puget Sound area, including Edmonds, Everett, Kirkland, Mukilteo, Renton, and Seattle.
United States US
Detectives had been investigating for 8 months. They had watched male customers going in and out, followed the presumed manager and associates and shadowed the person they believed to be the manager, a 45 year old woman referred to as Coco, as she took bags of cash to the bank. Once in November and again in January, an undercover detective posed as a customer and was offered a sex act inside the Red Dragon Spa. One of the women told an undercover detective that she was from China and had been in the U.S. for two years. Authorities were suspicious as to whether she and the others were immigrants forced to work as prostitutes by organized crime groups to repay the costs of the trip, court documents say. Authorities arrested one of the women on immigration violation but were not considering it a trafficking case, according to a spokeswoman for I.C.E. The investigation was buttressed by complaints to the Kirkland Police Department. One woman filed a police report after discovering that her boyfriend had visited the Kirkland spa three times and paid for sex acts. A man also tipped police, saying his ex-girlfriend, the manager, was providing sexual services inside the parlor, court documents say. I.C.E. also received a tip that the spa manager had a friend who is an immigration lay attorney, who would help Chinese women obtain papers to come to the U.S. where they would work as prostitutes. The tipster said the girls obtained fake credentials as nurses or teachers before coming to the U.S. and that the spa owner frequently picks up new employees at the airport.
United States US
CBS News Article 12/13/08 (can be found here: http://cbs2.com/local/Riverside.Mead.Valley.2.886528.html): Man Gets 965 Years For Sex Assaults On Disabled RIVERSIDE A Mead Valley man who sexually assaulted at least nine women he brought to his home and kept some of them tied up as sex slaves, was sentenced Friday to 965 years in prison. The district attorney said all of Peter Frances Milosavjevic's victims were mentally impaired. Between 2001 and 2005, Milosavjevic, 57, brought at least nine women to his Rios Road duplex, according to trial testimony. The victims, who he met cruising the streets, were offered shelter in exchange for housework and sexual favors. Most of the women, whose ages ranged from 30 to 59, were developmentally disabled and homeless, and some had worked as prostitutes. Authorities used photographs the defendant -- who lived next door to his mother in the duplex, had taken to identify his victims. "I doubt I'll ever see a case as despicable as this one in the years to come," said Riverside Superior Court Judge Mac Fisher as he announced his sentence. Fisher addes, "This sentence is appropriate for the destruction you have caused the victims." A Riverside woman testified that Milosavjevic tied her to his bed and violated her with a vibrator coated with a burning substance that caused intense pain. Investigators said he also used drugs and alcohol to subdue some of his victims. Another woman testified during the trial that Milosavjevic promised he would kill her and her family if she left him. She was repeatedly raped, sodomized and forced to give oral sex during her six-month ordeal, said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Chirco. Some of the women were freed after Milosavjevic tired of them, while others found ways to escape, she said. Milosavjevic testified the women were his lovers. He said he felt sorry for them and took them home to get them off the streets. His attorney, Chris Jensen, said in October that Milosavjevic operates on the "same mental plane as the mentally challenged women who testified against him." Milosavjevic had previous convictions in 1983 and 1995 for assaulting women. One of his victims was raped and beaten so badly she was in a coma for several days.
United States US
Four message parlors were raided. King County authorities say they were tipped off by federal immigration officials, who believed some of the young girls working as prostitutes may have been part of a human trafficking operation. Police arrested 4 women who ranged in age from 28-51. They were booked on various charges, including promoting prostitution and money laundering. The article did not say if the women were managers or the actual prostitutes who worked in the massage parlors. No men were arrested, but the article said that detectives seized the business records and customers who can be identified from the records will be contacted by detectives and police say charges are possible.
Canada CA
On November 11, 2008, Vilutis arrested in Mississauga. He was charged with human trafficking, exercising control of a prostitute, living off the avails of prostitution, assault, two counts of uttering threats to cause bodily harm or death and possession of a controlled substance.
United States US
Three arrests were made total, including Jarkowsky and two employees*. *These employees are the victims. See below. These two were bonded out of jail but are scheduled to appear in court in September 2008. The Island Spa was shut down.
United States US
The Nashville Police Department originally prosecuted the case under the first use of the state's anti-trafficking law. The district attorney, seemingly less interested in prosecuting the case, played softball with the accused traffickers and what should have been an 8-year sentence for trafficking sex victims across Florida, Georgia and Tennessee state lines. The traffickers ended up with 6 months and are likely to be deported by ICE.
United States US
Five men - four of them related: Amador Cortes-Meza, 34; Juan Cortes-Meza, 31; Francisco Cortes-Meza, 25; Raul Cortes-Meza, 21; and Edison Wagner Rosa Tort, 69. The Cortes-Meza family members, all Mexican nationals, were arrested June 5 in Norcross where they were living. Authorities took Tort, a legal permanent resident originally from Uruguay, into custody June 24 in Cartersville. They were charged with bringing at least 10 young Mexican women into the U.S. illegally and forcing them to work as prostitutes in metro Atlanta. The defendants allegedly used threats, coercion, and physical violence to force the girls to cooperate. The women were delivered to clients' apartments or homes and were required to have sex with up to 30 men per day (according to legal authorities). Prosecutors accuse the men of conspiring to seduce, entice, and recruit the women, ages 14-28, to travel to metro Atlanta from Mexico, with promises of legitimate jobs. Four women survivors involved were under 18 years old.
United States US
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats. Woods was sentenced on March 6, 2008 to serve 135 months in federal prison for sex trafficking of a minor by transporting a child under 18 years old from Oklahoma City to Amarillo, Texas, with the intent to engage in prostitution. Woods was ordered to serve 5 years of supervised release following his release from prison.
United States US
Xu and Tang would have some of the female Asian nationals apply for massage therapist licenses in Overland Park, the indictment says, and sign their names on the application as the manager of the massage parlors. Xu allegedly signed the massage license applications for at least 12 female Asian nationals to obtain massage licenses in Overland Park, and Tang allegedly signed the massage license applications for at least seven female Asian nationals to obtain massage licenses in Overland Park. However, the indictment says, Xu and Tang would also employ some of the female Asian nationals without having them obtain licenses. Xu, Liu, and Tang operated the businesses which allegedly offered and provided the prostitution and allowed illegal sexual services. Xu, Liu, and Tang instructed, provided, allowed or promoted for the female Asian nationals they employed to offer and provide sexual services to male patrons, the indictment says. This allegedly included offers of sexual services to identified male patrons and undercover law enforcement officers.
United States US
Annette Marie Simon 50, Heather Michelle Heald 34, forced two women from Texas to sell their bodies at settle Inn hotel at the I-435 corridor. The victims had gone into a trucking company applying for work, they found out it was a prostitution ring, and told that their families would get hurt if they did NOT "get involved".
United States US
According to the plea agreement, and the Department of Justice, on October 20, 2008, an adult female traveled from New York to Maryland after Escobar Sanchez agreed to provide housing, transportation, and schedule customers in exchange for a share of the victim’s earnings. Juan Carlos Escobar Sanchez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison and consented to voluntary deportation from the United States after he serves his sentence.
United States US
The locations included the Aloha Tanning Resort in Renton, Wash., the Avalon Spa in North Seattle and the Malibu Tanning Spa in Tukwila, Wash. Search warrants were also served at homes in Kent, Wash., and Renton as well as on board the "Island Girl" moored at the Westlake Marina on Lake Union in Seattle. According to court documents, Frey operated his businesses under the name of Crown Venture Capitol, Inc., and Crown Venture Management, Ltd., from his home in California. Every couple of weeks, Frey would fly to Seattle to collect thousands of dollars in cash from Nguyen and others who were managers at his businesses. Frey and Nguyen would regularly make arrangements to transport women to work in tanning salons as prostitutes. The women would stay for several weeks and eventually leave Washington state for another location. While working here at the salons, the women offered to provide sex acts to undercover officers and informants in exchange for cash. ICE was joined in this investigation by the King County Sheriff's Department and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
United States US
Owners of two local massage parlors were investigated as part of a suspected international human trafficking ring. Women were promised a better life by the operators if they came to America. When they got here, they were then told that they had a huge debt they would have to work off.
United States US
-SF operation allegedly run by Young Joon Yang, who lived in Beverly Hills. Allegedly used YJY Travel and Tour, a travel agency in the city (3001 Geary Blvd), to bring in women from Korea, and Yang's Taxi, a cab company, to transport them. Prostitutes were also flown to work in Las Vegas, Dallas, New York, and Boston. -Other major players: Wu Sang Nah (aka Kang Nah), Sung Yong Kim (aka Nam Kim), Myong Su Ahn (Paula Lee), Nam Young Lee. -Some evidence that ringleaders for SF and Southern California were communicating with each other and sharing girls. -Targeted women from impoverished areas of South Korea, offering them jobs as waitresses & bar hostesses in America, and charging them fees that they would then have to pay off. -King's Massage Parlor (315 Jessie Street, SF) Allegedly ran by Fred A. Frazier. Building owned by Ahdi M. Nashashibi, who was also charged. This was a major outpost in the operations; many prostitutes arrived there first before being moved elsewhere. -Golden Flower Steam & Sauna Spa (215 Second Street, SF) Allegedly ran by Anthony Gar Lau, who pleaded guilty in 2007 and was sentenced to one year in prison. Also ordered to forfeit $1M in profits from the spa and two years of supervised release after his prison term. -House on Knollwood Drive, Saratoga Operated by Keun Sung Lee. -Sun Spa (Geary Blvd, SF) and Acucare Oriental Spa (Emeryville) also involved