![]() ![]() The two female employees living in another Flagstaff parlor told police ‘the boss’ was living in LA, they did not know him, but he didn’t ‘like when they took cash.’ “They want to know what is happening in their store,” said one officer, during a parlor search. ![]() In one report, a Flagstaff sergeant wrote that the surveillance cameras in the business indicated “‘the boss is watching and listening to a live feed.” “These ones are still recording in here,” said one officer, referencing the cameras he discovered in a back room. Just a few walls separate the makeshift bedroom from the areas where police allege the women performed sex acts and were constantly monitored by surveillance cameras. “Well here's the living quarters,” said one officer, whose identity is concealed. When pressed, a city liaison for public records said ‘not all the officers present had body cameras.’ “Perhaps prostitution was really the impetus here, as opposed to recognizing that sex trafficking and exploitation was the real problem.”ĪBC15 requested all of the video associated with the case.ĭespite serving eight search warrants, Flagstaff officials provided just one video of officers searching a massage parlor and speaking to the women inside. “I think it has to be just lip service,” said Jenna Panas, CEO of Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence. Trafficking experts question the motive of the investigation though, and if victims' advocates were consulted early on in any meaningful way. One sergeant wrote, “there would be a good likelihood that we’d encounter someone who was at the parlor against their will.” When officers went to serve the arrest warrants, they flew in interpreters and brought along two ‘victims advocates for human trafficking.’ Throughout Flagstaff reports, the METRO unit officers mention ‘human trafficking’ as a catalyst for the months-long operation.Īfter the officers went undercover and gathered the ‘evidence’ for the case, the Coconino County Attorney’s Office got a grand jury to indict 15 people. ![]() It is a crime,” said Brad Rideout, an Arizona defense attorney and former prosecutor, who has handled hundreds of prostitution cases in his career.ĭespite the graphic sexual descriptions in the police records, the City of Flagstaff said in a statement that the officers “did not participate in any sexual acts” and stated their actions were not illegal.Īccording to one Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) report, the stated purpose of the operation was to investigate “human trafficking, sex trafficking, and prostitution.” “In Arizona, you cannot exchange money for sex acts while on duty. Multiple attorneys have told ABC15, what the officers did was illegal under state law. Hutchinson wrote he was also ‘touched in a sexual manner.’ When he later compared notes and looked at employee photos with Eberhardt, Hutchinson realized he had been fondled by four different female employees. Hutchinson later wrote in a report that he was ‘touched in a sexual manner’ by four different female employees than Eberhardt was. Months later, his co-worker, Officer Colton Hutchison went back into five of the same parlors to “see if we could do the same thing with a debit card.” In each business, the city employee got completely naked, rolled over, and allowed himself to be sexually touched. Over the course of two days in July 2019, Flagstaff Police Officer Dustin Eberhardt went into eight massage parlors. *Editors note: This story talks about a mature subject matter and may not be suitable for all audiences.*Ģ officers, 13 massages, 12 different female employees And the Mayor called for “ transparency”. The state’s police oversight board received a complaint. The City Manager hired an outside investigator to review the operation. Flagstaff’s Police Chief, Dan Mussleman, has been put on administrative leave. FLAGSTAFF, AZ - Human trafficking experts and victims' advocates are questioning Flagstaff police after two undercover officers went into a massage parlor to engage in sex acts, if they thought the female employees inside may be victims of human trafficking. ![]()
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