Commercial-front brothels make up the top venues for sex trafficking in Texas. Thirty-two of them had been reported as of June 30.
Fifteen women were arrested and eight brothels were shut down last month in northwest Dallas as part of a sex-trafficking investigation, authorities say.
The women, all of whom were owners or managers of massage parlors in northwest Dallas, were arrested in stings Aug. 26. Most of the women were booked into the Dallas County Jail on charges of aggravated promotion of prostitution, a third-degree felony.
The charge carries a minimum of two to 10 years in prison if convicted, and a fine of up to $10,000.
Two of the arrested women, Connie Su Moser and Kum Shugars, are charged with using a facility of interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise for using cellphones and the internet to promote prostitution at Dallas Doll House, according to the North Texas Trafficking Task Force. Moser, the owner of Dallas Doll House, also faces one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
The U.S. attorney’s office is currently prosecuting the cases against Moser and Shugars. A representative from the office declined to comment because the investigation is continuing.
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s criminal investigations division, Dallas police and U.S. Homeland Security agents and detectives conducted the sting operation.
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