2 days ago

Jupiter spa owner arrested in prostitution, human-trafficking bust

UPITER — The owner of a Jupiter day spa has become the third woman to face charges in an international human trafficking and prostitution investigation as authorities have begun announcing the first arrests of men — 11 in Martin County alone — accused of soliciting sex at their storefront businesses.

As part of the multi-agency investigation, Jupiter police arrested Hua Zhang, 58, on Tuesday on a slew of prostitution-related charges. Authorities say the Winter Garden resident is the owner of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, one of several day spas targeted in the operation. Authorities have video of Zhang performing sex acts on a man, accepting money and keeping tracking of the business’ financial account, according to her arrest report.

Martin County took 11 men into custody, each on charges on soliciting and using a structure or conveyance for prostitution. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said about 100 men in all will face charges as a result of the eight-month investigation.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190220/jupiter-spa-owner-arrested-in-prostitution-human-trafficking-bust

2 yrs ago

NEW: Human trafficking reports rise in Florida; young adults targeted

The recent case of three men accused of kidnapping a 19-year-old woman in Boynton Beach and trying to force her into prostitution is among a rapidly growing number of reported human trafficking incidents in Florida, state officials say.

The Florida Department of Children and Families counted nearly 1,900 reports of human trafficking statewide in 2016, a 54 percent increase from the previous year.

According to the Polaris Project – a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that tracks the number of calls to the national trafficking hotline – Florida had the third-highest number of reported cases in 2016, behind only California and Texas.

South Florida’s popularity among tourists and its transient populations help make it a popular target for the crime, some authorities say.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime–law/new-human-trafficking-reports-rise-florida-young-adults-targeted/zuFa90aHDLZMf2wm74RQqI/

$90,000 cars….wonder who else

He said he thought the spa opened around Thanksgiving, and the clientele was almost all men.

“Anything from a lot of pickup trucks to … some high-end cars that were coming in here, too,” Kromann said. “There were like $90,000 cars that were pulling up.”

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/martin-county/2019/02/20/details-florida-sex-spa-human-trafficking-cases-released/2929679002/

How can a person "categorically deny" when there's video evidence? Brazen.

another rhetorical question: why would a man with his money, name recognition and social status bother with fairly low-level prostitutes? I'm sure there are plenty of willing women around him. Because they are trafficked? Like a rapist, it's about the control? I dont understand it.