I read a bunch of news stories this morning all pretty much agreeing that when Robert Kraft allegedly used the services of a Florida massage parlor, he was interacting with modern day sex slavery.
Most of the ‘workers’ were young Asian girls (Chinese and South Koreans) who cannot speak English and lived at the establishment.
But, what I didn’t find was any report or opinion piece throwing any blame at our LEGAL immigration system that is allowing such large numbers of young women into the US on visas of some sort. Does no one at the US State Department or in USCIS see any red flags with visas from China?
Here is just one article (by Eric MacLeish at the Boston Globe) about what Robert Kraft has alleged to have participated in.
Sounds like the same type of operation we heard about in rural New Hampshire, here, where they weren’t catching big fish like Kraft, but did arrest some of the Chinese ring-leaders.
Why the allegations against Robert Kraft are a big deal
In the wake of the disclosures involving Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft allegedly soliciting two prostitutes at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Juniper, Fla., some commentators have suggested that the charges may get dismissed at the arraignment and that they only involve two alleged misdemeanors for which Kraft cannot be extradited from Massachusetts to Florida. So, no big deal and according to some, Kraft’s place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame looks pretty secure.
Kraft has issued a carefully worded statement denying that he did anything against the law. He’s entitled to a trial. The police say that they have video evidence of him engaging in a sex act with two prostitutes that he allegedly paid. Unless it’s another person on that video, a trial seems unlikely. So should all of this go away for Kraft in a neat plea deal?
It should not. Investigators in Florida report that the women working at the spa are victims of a human trafficking operation where they were coerced into performing as many as 15 sex acts a day.
Apparently, many live and sleep at the spa and are undoubtedly working without pay based on some fictitious debt that they incurred for being smuggled into the United States. Some were discovered squatting at the back of the spa, cooking on a hot plate. We don’t know all of the details yet, but let’s be clear. If the allegations are true, Robert Kraft has in effect aided and abetted an organization involving human slavery.
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In cases involving statutory rape (when a child is below the age of consent), it is typically not a defense when a victim misidentifies his or her age. It’s the responsibility of the defendant to find out how old he or she is. There are no charges of underage victims here, but a similar rule should apply. A 2018 Polaris report estimates that there were 9,000 storefront operations similar to Orchids of Asia employing exploited women in the sale of sex, with revenues totaling $2.5 billion.
Most of the women are from China or South Korea and most do not have a high school education. It was up to Kraft to understand the type of operation he was entering on those two visits.
There are more than 400,000 human beings held as slaves in the United States.
What do you do? Educate your friends and family members to this horrific practice, and if one of the 9,000 storefront operations is near you, keep an eye on them and look for signs that the Asian girls are not free to leave the establishment and then let the authorities know.