According to Triblive, a 44-year old woman accused of running a sex trafficking ring waived her right to a preliminary hearing and will be released from custody on April 22. Hui Xu has been incarcerated in the Washington County Jail since her arrest on March 22 on $100,000 bail. She will be placed on electric home monitoring as she prepares for trial.
Hui Xu is suspected of operating a sex trafficking ring out of four Tokyo Massage parlors in Monroeville and Murrysville. She allegedly worked with three other suspects, who coerced native Chinese women into performing sexual acts with clients. The three other defendants are Huicun Wei, Chang Yu Chen and Robert Yeric.
The massage parlors are currently closed and their permits have been suspended.
She is being represented by attorney Charles Porter of Pittsburgh, who said his client intends to fight the charges and maintains her innocence.
As the CSE Institute noted in our original post, we find the alleged nature of these acts despicable and advocate for civil laws to end trafficking in illicit massage parlors, which very few cities or states have or enforce.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or Villanova University.