Crime & Safety
Feds Charge Waltham Man With Sex Trafficking in Kansas
Prosecutors allege the man recruited women from outside Kansas and coerced them to engage in prostitution, according to an Associated Press report.
Federal prosecutors charged three people, including a Waltham man, in a wide-ranging sex trafficking scheme operating at nine Asian massage parlors in Wichita, Kansas, reported the Wichita Eagle newspaper.
Prosecutors allege the trio recruited women from outside Kansas and coerced them to engage in prostitution, according to an Associated Press report.
A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court charges owner Gary H. Kidgell, 44, of Waltham; Yan Zhang, 49, of Wichita; and employee Xiuqing Tian, 42, of Framingham, with a conspiracy that allegedly started in June 2009 and lasted until August 2011.
The six-count complaint lists four women, identified only by their initials, who were allegedly forced to engage in prostitution.
Authorities began investigating the massage parlors in 2010 after Wichita police detectives found Internet postings about sexual services available in Wichita, reported the AP story.
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In September 2010, officials sent in undercover officers to the massage parlors. The officers paid for massages, but were offered, and declined, sex acts for an added price, according to the affidavit.
During a 2010 search of the massage parlors, officers found a notebook containing translations for sexually explicit phrases.
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