While charges against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for soliciting prostitution brought national attention to the issue of sex trafficking on Friday, data, expert opinion and cases from around the USA show how widespread the problem is. Sex trafficking accounted for 6,081 of the more than 8,500 reported cases of human trafficking in the United States in 2017, according to statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. There is no official estimate of the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. Polaris, a nonprofit that operates the hotline on human trafficking, estimates that the total number of victims nationally reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated. Illicit massage or spa businesses, similar to the ones in the Florida case, were the top location or industry where sex trafficking occurred in 2017, with 714 reported cases, according to the hotline's data. More than 9,000 illicit massage businesses operate in every state around the country, bringing in a stunning $2.5 billion each year, according to estimates in a 2018 report by Polaris on trafficking in these businesses. "It's not accurate to understand these cases as local," Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris, told USA TODAY on Friday. "The places are being overlooked and underestimated." More:'We’re talking tens of millions of dollars': Sex spas are big business, investigator says Characteristics of the average illegal spa that Polaris details fit with how prosecutors described ones in Florida. Ten spas were shut down in Orlando, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast after several months of investigation revealed women there were in "sexual servitude," according to arrest records. At Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, where Kraft allegedly paid for sexual services, women – many of them from China – lived in the spa and were not permitted to leave, according to Martin County Sheriff Will Snyder. Kraft, who has been charged but not arrested, denied the allegation. He is one of the hundreds of alleged clients facing charges in the recent Florida stings. More:Robert Kraft investigation: What we know about Patriots owner's sex solicitation allegations Like some of the spas that allegedly engaged in sex trafficking in Florida, the average illicit massage business is connected to at least one other, according to Polaris. Myles said most are tied to larger criminal networks that have links to the countries where many of the women at the spas are from. Many of the women are coerced to work in the businesses and often earn no wages and have no autonomy, Myles said. "These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They can’t leave and they are performing sex acts," Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said of the investigation. "Some of them may tell us they’re OK, but they’re not." Beyond sex trafficking at just massage spas, the United States prosecutes hundreds of cases each year and wins scores of convictions on charges of trafficking with respect to slavery and sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion, according to an analysis of federal records by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. In fiscal year 2018, 189 cases resulted in convictions, according to TRAC’s data. Here's a look at how sex trafficking has affected areas across the country: 'Mecca of sex trafficking' In March last year, a report estimated 340 young adults and children have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee in a four-year period. "We've heard from different sources that we're the mecca of sex trafficking, but we need to be able to measure that," Mallory O'Brien, director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission, which participated in the report, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at the time. "This was our opportunity to do that," she said. Research found 340 people ages 25 and younger who were confirmed or believed to have been victims of sex trafficking in Milwaukee between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2016. Overall in Wisconsin, child welfare workers confirmed 99 incidents of children and youth sex trafficking statewide from June 2017 through August 2018, the state Department of Children and Families said in January. Backpage and effects of its shutdown The CEO and co-founder of Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty in April to charges of facilitating prostitution and money laundering after the Justice Department seized the controversial online classifieds site. The website's other co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin, as well as five other executives, faced 93 charges involving facilitating prostitution through the Backpage site and money laundering. While some praised Backpage’s demise as a blow to an abusive industry, sex workers across the United States and Canada swarmed social media to air concerns rarely heard in political discourse: To them, Backpage’s demise meant the end of safeguards and a reliable revenue stream in a profession that’s not going anywhere. More:Sex workers 'devastated,' look to alternatives after Backpage closure “They’re devastated,” Laura Dilley, executive director of PACE, a Vancouver-based nonprofit that advocates for decriminalizing prostitution, told the Arizona Republic in April. While many sex workers said they would keep posting on smaller websites, they also worried about the future. "There’s a lot of uncertainty; a lot of grief and fear," Jelena Vermilion, a sex worker based outside of Toronto told the Arizona Republic in April. "A lot of people are essentially planning to be homeless, planning how to fall gracefully as much as possible." On the flip side, Backpage's shutdown affected law enforcement trying to help victims of sex trafficking. Before Backpage was terminated, Cpl. Chris Heid could locate sex trafficking victims exclusively on the website. Backpage was responsive to the Maryland State Police corporal's requests for records and his agency's warrants and subpoenas. When he asked the site to remove advertisements he determined were trafficking-related, moderators complied – sometimes within minutes. While anti-trafficking operations by Maryland State Police yielded three more arrests in 2018 (when Backpage was seized) than the year prior, the number of victims police came in contact with dropped 38 percent, from 113 in 2017 to 70 last year, the Salisbury Daily Times reported in February. 'There’s a place for them. They just don’t know it yet' Opened in February 2018, Sanctum House became the first human trafficking shelter of its kind in southeastern Michigan. Survivors who come to live there enter a two-year program that includes drug and alcohol rehabilitation as well as education, counseling, job training and support. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press, founder Edee Franklin described human trafficking as a snare of tiny strings that pulls victims back again and again. One by one, she's trying to snip those strings to free women who want to get out, but have yet to find a way because they don't have a safe place to live or are without access to drug or alcohol rehab, financial security, job training or education. "There are women out there right now that are being raped and brutalized and they are saying, 'Dear God, get me out of this.' And there’s a place for them. They just don’t know it yet," Franklin said in December 2017. "Somebody is going to say to them – whether it’s at the jail or the ER or the judge – somebody is going to say: 'Well, you can go to a three-night shelter or you can go to jail or you can go to a detox for three weeks. You can go back to your pimp, you can go to the streets or to your abusive family or you can go to Sanctum House if you would like to change your life." Need help? See something? The National Human Trafficking Hotline is confidential, toll-free and available 24/7 in more than 200 languages. Call: 1-888-373-7888 Text: “BeFree” (233733) Chat: humantraffickinghotline.org Contributing: Cara Kelly and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY; Mary Helen Moore and Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers; Ashley Luthern and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Megan Cassidy and Richard Ruelas, The Arizona Republic; Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller<doc-sep>Robert Kraft, owner of the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution in connection with a human trafficking sting tied to a chain of Florida massage parlors — and recent reports suggest that the billionaire sports owner may not be the most recognizable person involved in the investigation. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there allegedly remains at least one other person associated with the prostitution ring that is more prominent than 77-year-old Kraft. “I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,” Schefter said while appearing on the news station, according to USA Today. At a Friday press conference, Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr was asked if there were any other individuals — more prominent than Kraft — among those who have been charged so far, and said no. However, Kerr said the investigation into the alleged human trafficking is ongoing and that more arrests are possible. Kraft — the 419th richest person in the world, with a reported net worth of $4.36 billion — has owned the Patriots for more than two decades, employs arguably the greatest quarterback in history in Tom Brady and regularly socializes with celebrities such as Meek Mill, so one may be hard pressed to find someone with as prominent a name as him. Robert Kraft RELATED: Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Denies Accusation He Solicited Prostitution at Fla. Massage Parlor The allegations against Kraft stem from two separate visits in January to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, which has been identified as part of an alleged human trafficking and prostitution network, reports the Palm Beach Post. Kerr confirmed there is video evidence of Kraft and 24 other men who are being charged with solicitation, reports West Palm Beach TV station WPTV. “We are as deeply stunned as anyone else,” he said when asked to comment on Kraft’s involvement, according to the outlet. A spokesman for Kraft tells PEOPLE: “We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further.” Story continues The NFL released a statement to PEOPLE reading: “The NFL is aware of the ongoing law enforcement matter and will continue to monitor developments.” RELATED VIDEO: Patriots Owner Robert Kraft ‘Thrilled’ Girlfriend Welcomed Baby ‘Last Fall’ but Denies Paternity The decision whether to proceed with the prosecution of Kraft and the other men rests with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. If pursued, the solicitation charge would be a second-degree misdemeanor for a first offense, with a jail term of up 60 days; a second offense is first-degree misdemeanor, with a penalty of up to one year in prison, according to Florida statutes. RELATED: Who Is Robert Kraft? Everything to Know About the New England Patriots Owner “Our concern in this investigation centers around victims of human trafficking,” Kerr said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Earlier this month the Patriots under Kraft’s ownership celebrated their sixth Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams.<doc-sep>
Robert Kraft was charged Friday with soliciting prostitution as part of a takedown on a large sex trafficking ring in Florida. In the trafficking operation, women came from China to the United States on temporary work visas, believing they'd receive legitimate jobs. Instead, they were put to work at spa and massage parlors that doubled as sites for prostitution, according to police. The women lived at the parlors and performed sex acts in exchange for money during massage appointments, according to a police report. The charges against Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, on Friday were part of a larger takedown operation against a sex trafficking ring that spanned at least 10 spa and massage parlors in Florida. Many of the victims came from China on temporary work visas, according to David Currey, the chief of the Vero Beach Police Department, which was involved in the operation. At a press conference, he said that they believed they'd receive a legitimate job in US. "Some of them are trying to make a better life for themselves," he said. "These people truly are stuck." It was an enormous effort, involving multiple police agencies and charges against 173 different people. Some of the details about the ring's operation were revealed in a report released by the Jupiter Police Department. The Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter was one of the sites under investigation. The two managers of the spa were Hua Zhang, who was identified as the site operator on property records, and Lei Wang, who told a health inspector she was a manager there. Robert Kraft in 2015. Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx/AP In November, police requested that the Florida Department of Health conduct a routine inspection after they surveilled the spa and saw postings about illicit sexual activity there on Rubmaps.com, a forum where people post about "erotic massage parlors." The health investigator found rooms with beds, including sheets and pillows, along with dressers that housed clothing, medicine, and personal items. From that evidence, police concluded that the victims lived at the parlor. "Inside the kitchen of the business, [the health inspector] located a refrigerator filled with foods and condiments consistent with individuals living inside," the police report said. Later that day, officers looked at the spa's trash for evidence, which is legal in the state of Florida. The officers said they found payment records and crumbled napkins that contained seminal fluids. Police said that the people who entered the business were almost exclusively male. Mei L/Yelp The police obtained a warrant for non-audio surveillance camera footage inside the business. From the cameras, police saw customers enter, pay at the front desk, and then go into a massage room. In the massage rooms, the customers would receive some sort of massage and then engage in sexual activity, according to the report. In many cases, they groped the women giving them massages, the report said. Afterwards, they gave the spa employee cash, ranging from as low as $7 to $100, according to the police surveillance. Zhang and Wang, who managed the business, were among those who performed the sex acts, according to the report. But police said they also roped their employees into sex work. Almost everyone who entered the business was male, according to police surveillance. And most of the income for the business, the report said, was generated by prostitution instead of legitimate spa services. "The majority of income generated by the Orchids of Asia spa was a result of the prostitution crimes," the report reads. "Zhang and Wang were not only willing participants in committing crimes of prostitution inside the spa, but also employed others for that purpose."