| For Immediate Release Case # 14WF2986
August 8, 2014 |
WOMAN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR OPERATING TWO MASSAGE PARLORS AS BROTHELS AND PANDERING VICTIMS
WESTMINSTER – A woman is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday for operating two massage parlors as brothels and pandering female victims. Sujin Kim, 55, Los Angeles, is charged with six felony counts of pandering. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 12 years and eight months in state prison. Kim is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. in Department W-2, West Justice Center, Westminster.
Between May 1, 2014, and Aug. 6, 2014, Kim is accused of operating illegal brothels disguised as massage parlors. Kim is accused of collecting money from sex purchasers who entered the massage parlors for commercial sex services. The defendant is accused of having female victims perform massages on the patrons, and then negotiate money in exchange for a sexual act. The Garden Grove Police Department investigated this case with assistance from the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force (OCHTTF) and arrested Kim on Aug. 6, 2014.
Members of OCHTTF and the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Office work proactively to protect women and minors from falling victim to commercial sexual exploitation. This case was investigated by OCHTTF, a partnership between the Anaheim Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Huntington Beach Police Department, OCDA, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and community and non-profit partners.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Varon of the HEAT Unit is prosecuting this case.
Proposition 35 and HEAT
In November 2012, California’s anti-human trafficking Proposition 35 (Prop 35) was enacted in California with 81 percent of the vote, and over 82 percent of the vote in Orange County, to increase the penalty for human trafficking, particularly in cases involving the trafficking of a minor by force.
A component of the OCHTTF is the OCDA’s Human Exploitation And Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, which targets perpetrators who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution, to bring justice for victims of human trafficking and hold perpetrators responsible using Prop 35; Education, to provide law enforcement training to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources from public-private partnerships to raise public awareness about human trafficking and provide assistance