Growing Number Of Pre-Super Bowl Prostitution, Human Trafficking Arrests
SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- The latest pre-Super Bowl arrest for prostitution in the South Bay was made during an anti-human trafficking operation in Millbrae Thursday.
Following several weeks of surveillance and detailed investigations, law enforcement officials in Millbrae established probable cause and linked the occupants of the residence to acts of prostitution.
Detectives executed a search warrant for a home in the 300 block of Pine Street in Millbrae, located just across the freeway from San Francisco International Airport, and seized a number of items that apparently showed that the residence was being used as a house of prostitution.
Kamonrat Sun, 43, was the sole occupant of the residence and arrested for prostitution. Sun was booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
Sun's arrest is just the latest prostitution-related arrest in the South Bay this week.
On Wednesday, an undercover sting in Milpitas, as part of Super Bowl Human Trafficking Operations, led to the arrest of a woman who allegedly placed ads in Backpage.com offering a 17-year-old girl to perform sex acts in exchange for money.
The Santa Clara County Human Trafficking Task Force discovered the alleged exploitation of the teen girl while conducting an undercover operation on Wednesday, Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. James Jensen said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, detectives for the Santa Clara County Human Trafficking Task Force set up a rendezvous with a female who was posting an ad offering adult entertainment escort services on the classified advertising website, Backpage.com. Detectives responded to the ad and were directed to go to a motel in Milpitas, just north of San Jose, Jensen said.
The undercover detectives went to the motel room for the rendezvous and found three females inside. The female pictured in the ad was identified as a 17-year-old girl from out of the area, according to Jensen.
Detectives determined the teen girl was a commercially sexually exploited minor, or CSEC, and they contacted the Department of Family & Children's Services.
Investigators determined that Tekera "Taco" Scott, a 20-year-old woman from Sacramento, and the oldest female found with the minor, was sexually exploiting the teenager by placing ads for her to perform sex acts in exchange for money.
Officers arrested Scott on suspicion of the human trafficking of a minor and pandering. She was then booked into county jail.
When detectives searched the motel room, they also found a loaded firearm, Jensen said.
On Tuesday, Denver Broncos practice squad safety Ryan Murphy was sent home after South Bay authorities said they caught Murphy with a group involved in prostitution at a San Jose motel.
"Ryan Murphy was there with associates that were involved in the criminal activities," Jensen said.
Authorities were targeting an area of north San Jose allegedly known for prostitution.
Deputies did not cite Murphy but detained a suspected female prostitute in the area of North First Street and Brokaw Road. The woman told task force members that she had to go to a car that was parked in a gas station near the intersection to retrieve some property. Murphy was inside that car along with his brother.
Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak released a brief statement Tuesday night saying that the team would be sending Murphy home.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Human Trafficking Task Force says the business of selling sex is up in the weeks and days leading up to the Super Bowl.
"The ads have increased, both with the females in the prostitution and the males looking for prostitutes," said Jensen.
Last week, a prostitution sting at four massage parlors in Santa Cruz led to four arrests.
At each business, workers allegedly offered to have sex with undercover officers in exchange for money, according to police.
The team targeted the businesses based on complaints and suspicions from the community, police said.
The women, all between the ages of 30 and 50, and all from China, were cited for soliciting an act of prostitution, according to police.
Human trafficking victims seeking assistance may call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888 or Monarch Services at (888) 900-4232.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter