Nearly two dozen men were arrested for taking part in the brothel operating out of a short-term rental property in Plano. One Dallas resident hired a private investigator after having suspicions of sex trafficking.
The short-term rental operation in Plano that was busted in September first came from another short-term rental property in Dallas. According to NBCDFW, residents in a Dallas neighborhood near I-635 and Marsh Lane became suspicious after seeing men coming and going last summer. One neighbor hired a private investigator to look into the house.
But after being busted in Dallas, the brothel reopened in Plano. Nearly two dozen men have been arrested for visiting the Plano brothel which was made public when neighbors witnessed the raid on the short-term rental home.
Ranging in age from 27 to 70, 23 men are charged with solicitation of prostitution, which is considered a state felony. They were booked at the Dallas County Jail, but their cases are being filed with Collin County prosecutors, Dallas Police said.
“This is a sex trafficking case,” Dallas Police Special Operation Major Devon Palk said. “This particular operation is closed. There are still potential investigative leads that are being followed.”
Local Profile previously reported Dallas police first became aware of an issue regarding a possible sex trafficking ring. Upon further investigation, they found a brothel-type business being run at the 2900 block of Las Palmas Lane in Plano.
Detectives with the Dallas Special Investigations Unit and the Plano Police Department executed the search warrant and two arrests were made on September 23. Brandy Clift, 41, was arrested for alleged aggravated promotion of prostitution in the first degree, and Madison Hatcher, 22, was arrested on a warrant for alleged assault out of Hays County.
“Trafficking is the exploitation of vulnerability,” Lindsey Speed, president of Traffick 911, said.“The reality is there’s a lot of vulnerable kids out there. It’s not the snatch-and-grab thing, it’s not these stories that get circulated on Facebook. It’s smart and manipulative traffickers that are both men and women and even older teenage kids who are recruiting and selling them something or be a part of this, and a lot of times they what they’re selling is belonging.”
