They're nestled amid bustling downtowns and tucked into nondescript strip malls across quiet suburbs. Brothels posing as massage parlors and Asian spas have been part of many American communities for decades, hidden in plain sight. But the Florida prostitution sting that ensnared New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft this month is a reminder of the human trafficking and abuse taking place behind the darkened windows of many of these storefronts β and how challenging the problems are to address.
The case also highlights how police and prosecutors use an increasingly broad range of approaches, including deeper investigations into wider criminal networks, crackdowns on online sites where johns trade detailed sex reviews and enforcement of stricter civil codes on the massage industry, anti-trafficking activists said.
Most of the prostitutes are women from China and South Korea in their mids to late 50s who have entered the country illegally, are deeply in debt and are drawn into sex work through a combination of lies, threats and other forms of coercion, the organization said. The massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida, where Kraft, a year-old Massachusetts billionaire, was allegedly videotaped engaging in sex acts is typical of the model.
A spokesperson for Kraft has denied he "engaged in any illegal activity. Tucked into a pedestrian strip mall in an affluent oceanside community, the Orchids of Asia Day Spa employed mostly immigrant workers and was linked allegedly similar operations in other Florida counties, authorities said.
Authorities say the prostitutes averaged about 1, clients a year, were given no days off and were not allowed to leave the site, where they also lived.
