FBI: Couple Ran Prostitution Ring From Oakland Park Home
OAKLAND PARK (CBS4) - A Broward man and his "wife" are accused of prostituting teens for sex.
Investigators with the FBI say James Mozie and Laschell Harris ran a business known as the Boom Boom Room out of their Oakland Park home.
A 16-year-old girl told investigators that she was taken to the home by two male friends of her 14-year-old cousin in April. Once there, the 16-year-old said she saw women and girls, including one she knew from school, dancing for men. She also described adult pornography playing on a television and people smoking pot.
The teen said Mozie, aka Red, had her fill out a job application that asked her age and sexual preferences, such as "whether the applicant would engage in oral sex," according to a federal criminal complaint.
The teen told investigators she was given pot and over the course of the evening had sex with three men, including Mozie, as part of her "orientation." The girl said at each encounter the men were given a condom and an egg timer was set.
The girl said during her encounter with Mozie she "began to realize what she had done and started to cry," the complaint reads.
The teen said she was given 70% of the money from sex.
Harris kept the books on the operation, according to the teen.
According to the complaint, at least one other minor told investigators a similar story of her encounters in the home.
The feds say Mozie and Harris used a green light bulb outside to alert customers that the business was open and kept an armed doorman outside.
The feds searched the home last Saturday. Inside, they found 12 men and four women, including two 17-year-old girls. Investigators took numerous items from the home -- including employment applications, four boxes of Magnum condoms, egg timers, a roll of tickets, cameras, cash and clear baggies with a green leafy substance inside.
Neighbors said they never noticed anything unusual and defended Harris -- whom they know as Shelly.
"It's like crazy when I heard," said Tasha Cooper. "I was like, what? Not Shelly. She's the nicest person."
Mozie and Harris are locked up in the Broward County Jail. A spokesperson for the FBI said they want to hear from any other victims in this case.
