Joseph County Police officers were offered sex and found pornographic DVDs at four area massage parlors during a human trafficking investigation , newly filed court documents say.
Though there have been no arrests made or charges filed in the two weeks since officials announced they served a series of search warrants, the documents reveal additional details of the investigation, including the owner of the stores. When police searched the massage parlors on June 20 , they found 12 women apparently living in the shops and believe at least some were being forced to work against their will and reported sexual abuse.
Previous coverage on trafficking investigation: St. Joseph County police search massage parlors in human trafficking investigation. The documents say undercover officers went to each of the massage parlors in December, March and June and paid for a massage.
The detectives did not engage in sexual services, the document states. Officials have said the investigation began after getting tips from residents that the women working in the stores did not go home at the end of the day and appeared to be sleeping in the parlors. Troy Warner, an attorney for St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman has previously said two of the women are fully cooperating with police, though they speak only Mandarin Chinese. Local police: Up to 12 women may be victims of sex trafficking at St.
Joseph County massage parlors. Police also are looking into the possibility of tax evasion, as the massage parlors were allegedly not paying sales tax. The court documents also identify the owner of the massage parlors as James Belkiewitz and say police have been investigating his businesses on suspicion of human trafficking and tax evasion for about a year and a half.
