A man has been charged with two felonies, after Utah authorities raided massage parlors across the Wasatch Front, but Attorney General Sean Reyes says more charges may be coming as the investigation continues.
Thirty-five year old Changfeng Lin was booked Tuesday in Weber County jail, charged for exploiting a prostitute and a pattern of unlawful activity. But Attorney General Sean Reyes says investigators are still questioning witnesses and there may well be more charges coming.
“In a case like this, typically we would book on probable cause for other alleged crimes, and through the interview process, see if there is evidence of possible human trafficking,” Reyes says.
He says more than a dozen women taken into custody from the massage parlors are being treated as potential victims. Though one woman, Huang Lihua has been booked in Salt Lake County jail on charges of prostitution and practicing massage without a license.
Reyes says human trafficking does occur in Utah, and he’s made it a priority of his administration. “It is modern slavery,” he says. “It’s really extremely lucrative, and up to this point has been low risk because not very many people have been prosecuted. Hopefully the tide is changing in Utah.”
The raid occurred after a 10-month investigation, headed by a state strike force aimed at cracking down on crimes involving undocumented immigrants.
