Crime & Safety
Springfield Massage Parlors Raided In Human Trafficking Probe
Young Asian immigrant females were held captive for sexual contact with clients under the guise of providing massages, authorities said.
SPRINGFIELD, MO — About 18 businesses in Springfield billed as massage parlors were raided in a multi-state investigation into human trafficking, authorities announced Thursday.
Attorney General Josh Hawley and Greene County Prosecutor Daniel Patterson also filed a lawsuit Thursday requesting emergency orders to close the businesses. Young Asian immigrant females are being held captive for sexual contact with clients under the guise of providing massages, Hawley said.
The lawsuit was filed after the Missouri State Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies raided the businesses. Sixteen businesses and individuals were named in the lawsuit. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
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Similar raids are being conducted in Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana Hawley told The Springfield News-Leader. The activities may be linked to Asian organized crime, he said.
"We will find you out, we will hunt you down and we will prosecute you," Hawley said of anyone suspected of committing human trafficking in Missouri.
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Raids of businesses suspected of being involved in sex trafficking happening now across Springfield, per @HawleyMO pic.twitter.com/qDJDisHiUO
— Giacomo Bologna (@GBolognaNL) July 20, 2017
The patrol recorded the massage parlors for hundreds of hours before the raids, the lawsuit stated. The total number of victims in the ring remains unknown and an investigation remains ongoing.
Many Greene County businesses that were searched had advertised on backpage.com and rubmaps.com, a release from Patterson said. The websites are "known by law enforcement to be used to promote the sex trade."
Hawley announced in April that he wanted to crack down on human trafficking in the state, including new regulations under the state's consumer protection laws and the creation of an Anti-Trafficking Unit in the attorney general's Office. That unit participated in Thursday's raids and is looking into other businesses tied to human trafficking, including backpage.com, he said.
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