Why is sex trafficking tolerated in suburbia?
You know, I didn’t always write exclusively about school shootings. I mean, I mostly do now because of (broadly gestures) all of this. But there was a time when I would frequently write about human trafficking, mainly because of two websites, craigslist and Backpage. I don’t do as much writing about that anymore because craigslist shut down their adult/erotic services section many years ago due to political and public pressure. Backpage, on the other hand, kept going until they were seized by the Federal Government in 2018.
Since that time, I haven’t posted as much about human trafficking as I probably should. Occasionally, I’ll make a post about it when I hear some ridiculous story, like when internet doofuses thought Wayfair was shipping live children inside their furniture deliveries. Plus, every once in a while, I’ll stick my head out of my anxiety bunker to show people how real human trafficking happens when they accuse the LGBTQ+ community of being ‘groomers’ and ‘traffickers’.
Oh crap, I just realized I should have made a post about how while Diddy’s “Freak Offs” were a form of human trafficking, they weren’t how trafficking typically happens. However, my friends at The Broad Lens blog have got you covered.
And one day I have to review that stupid Sound of Freedom movie. From what I understand, it’s dangerously inaccurate.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I found a news story that caught my eye while I was doing research for my day job. Since my inbox is bursting with stories about school shootings, I thought I’d give that a rest and post about this instead. Although it’s just one case in a specific location, this example reflects the more common reality of human trafficking, far removed from Hollywood and conspiracy theories.
Our story starts in Bristol, Connecticut, a suburb of nearby Hartford. In a local strip mall, there was an establishment called ‘Aqua After Dark’. According to a craigslist ad, Aqua After Dark offered cuddle sessions, massages, and a jacuzzi.
Now, before we continue our story, your humble author grew up in the New Jersey suburbs, where strip malls were practically invented. On the many trips my parents would take us on between the Atlantic City area, where we lived, to Philadelphia to see our relatives, we would pass an untold number of strip malls. The majority of these strip malls were in pretty decent towns. While not Beverly Hills, they weren’t exactly Cracktown either.
On these trips, I noticed that some of the strip malls had some ‘questionable’ businesses. There was the lingerie store where women would model the products offered. Then there was the adult toy store, which also had live models for some reason. And of course, there were the prerequisite Asian-themed massage parlors that always had their storefront windows blacked out.
That’s not even taking into account the freestanding structures that housed strip clubs, adult book stores, and even one sex club that tried to claim the women working there were ‘art models’.
My point is that the suburbs have been a haven for sex trafficking dating back to at least my childhood in the 1970s and 80s.
Which brings us back to the modern day in Bristol.
It should come as no shock that Aqua After Dark was an alleged house of prostitution, as CT Insider puts it.
According to the Bristol Police, the owners of Aqua After Dark are convicted felons whose offenses range from burglary to promoting prostitution and racketeering.
The suspects exploited and controlled their victims through a series of coercive and abusive practices. They manipulated vulnerable women, some struggling with substance abuse, by offering housing and transportation, which they used as leverage to force participation in their illicit operation.
Victims were coerced into performing sexual acts under the guise of working at a massage parlor, with the suspects taking all house fees and leaving the women dependent on tips.
They reportedly organized appointments for full-service prostitution, and women feared repercussions if they refused. The operation’s exploitative environment included allowing drug use to maintain control over the victims, further entrenching their dependency.
The suspects dehumanized the women, referring to them disparagingly and controlling their movements and earnings. Their manipulation extended to restricting victims’ autonomy, including locking them out of housing and attempting to dominate their social media activity to maintain financial control.
This predatory system capitalized on the victims’ vulnerabilities and subjected them to ongoing psychological, physical, and economic abuse.
So far, I haven’t identified the suspects. So, I present to you Vincent Whiteley and David Henderson.
These are two white dudes in their 60s. They look like two guys who would be discussing the last Eagles game on the stoops of my grandmother’s Philadelphia neighborhood. I’m almost positive that this isn’t what some of you imagined they would look like. That just shows you how sex trafficking crosses all cultural boundaries.
Now remember what supposedly took place at Aqua After Dark. Then think of all the shady suburban businesses where practices like this probably take place. Now imagine all the women and girls who are being abused inside of all those businesses and storefronts across the country.
To make matters worse, these businesses are largely tolerated around the nation. Remember, those places I told you about in New Jersey? The last time I was there, the majority of them were still in business. I’m sure you can think of someplace in your town, or at least nearby, that’s tolerated like this.
Police departments typically only investigate these places when someone complains, and even then, too many police officers go too far undercover in their investigation, if you know what I mean.
As I have said many times in the past, this is the real trafficking that’s happening in America, and not the crazy conspiracy theories that are spread by the ignorant and the malevolent.
Unfortunately, the situation probably won’t get any better, as alleged traffickers and known predators are set to take office in January.
