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发帖数: 16092 | 1 Husband and wife kept Chinese tourists as sex slaves in Portland homes,
prosecutors say
A husband-and-wife duo ensnared female Chinese tourists in an oppressive sex
trafficking ring, locking down at least two Portland homes as prostitution
dens for their enterprise, federal prosecutors say.
Sou Chao Li, 37, and Derong Maio, 37, of Concord, New Hampshire, face
multiple charges of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and
travel for prostitution, sex trafficking by fraud and coercion, and
interstate transportation for prostitution, according to a Thursday
afternoon announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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A grand jury indictment for the husband and wife was unsealed on Thursday,
according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The indictment alleges that Li and Maio recruited Chinese women who came to
the United States on tourism visas, then put them to work having sex with
clients in homes and hotel rooms in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
In addition to a number of inn and motel rooms, Li and Maio rented
residences at 5 Verrill St. and 977 Brighton Ave. in Portland for weeks in
2016 and operated the locations as “prostitution houses,” the indictment
claims.
[Boston man who forced Maine women to work as prostitutes gets 17 years]
The defendants and their co-conspirators advertised the women for sex on the
website Backpage.com, and controlled the victims by withholding food,
clothes, documents and other necessities, according to prosecutors.
Daphne Hallett Donahue, attorney for the husband, said he was “bewildered
and exhausted” when she met him in court after his arrest Tuesday. She said
she couldn’t yet comment on details of the case.
An attorney for the wife declined comment.
The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the crimes on Thursday, according
to the Portsmouth Herald.
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The sex trafficking charges carry maximum sentences of life in prison,
according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.
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