Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #464

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Husband and Wife Kept Chinese
Tourists As Sex Slaves In Portland
A husband-and-wife duo ensnared female Chinese tourists in an oppressive sex traf- ficking ring, locking down at least two Portland homes as prostitution dens for their enterprise, fed- eral prosecutors say.
Sou Chao Li, 37, and Derong Maio, 37, of Concord, New Hampshire, face multiple charges of conspira- cy to engage in interstate trans- portation and travel for prostitution, sex trafficking by fraud and coercion, and interstate trans- portation for prosti- tution, according to a Thursday after- noon announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A grand jury indict- ment for the hus- band 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 resi- dences at 5 Verrill St. and 977 Brighton Ave. in Portland for weeks in 2016 and operat- ed the locations as “prostitution hous- es,” the indictment claims.
The defendants and their co-conspirators advertised the women for sex on the website Backpage.com, and controlled the vic-
tims by withholding food, clothes, docu- ments and other necessities, accord- ing to prosecutors.
Daphne Hallett Donahue, attorney for the husband, said he was “bewil- dered and exhaust- ed” 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 com- ment.
The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the crimes on Thursday, according to the Portsmouth Herald.
The sex trafficking charges carry maxi- mum sentences of life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Homes, Prosecutors Say
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine