Five people have been charged with multiple felonies after a months-long human trafficking investigation in Kane County, officials said Thursday afternoon.
St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan said his department became aware of a brothel operating on the near west side of St. Charles in the spring and launched an investigation into human trafficking.
Officials believe the brothel was part of a large enterprise also operating in Chicago, Aurora, Elgin, South Elgin, Hanover Park and in an unincorporated area near Palatine.
The five people arrested, four men and one woman, have been charged with multiple felonies, officials said.
Daniel Hurtado, 26, of Elgin; Christian Hurtado, 27, of Elgin; Martha Hurtado-Hernandez, 57, of Chicago; and Rigoberto Parra, 46, of Aurora, were charged with aggravated involuntary servitude, trafficking in persons for labor and involuntary servitude, according to a press release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. Hector Briseno, 54, of Chicago, was also charged with those offenses, as well as being charged with promoting prostitution for profit.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser alleges that between Feb. 17 and July 19, the five people charged engaged in a conspiracy to subject seven women to commercial sexual activity by causing or threatening physical harm to at least one of the women, according to the press release.
On Wednesday, the seven women were taken into protective custody, connected to social services and moved into transitional housing, officials said. One of the women was taken to a hospital complaining of abdominal pain and was treated and released, Keegan said.
The defendants are accused of physically restraining the women by confining them to a residence, intimidating them with threats and maintaining financial control over them, prosecutors said.
The ages of the women ranged from their early 20s to early 30s and were all from different parts of South America, police said.
A special bond hearing was held for the defendants Thursday in Kane County, with bail being set for each at $5 million, officials said.
Police said they conducted surveillance, obtained multiple search warrants and collected forensic evidence they believe show the women were brought into the United States to be exploited as part of a larger human trafficking ring.
The investigation was like an onion, Keegan said, “and the more we peeled it back the more it stunk.”
Police said the investigation led them to multiple locations across the Chicago area.
Keegan said local officials will continue to work with different jurisdictions on the investigation.
If anyone has information or suspects human trafficking in their area, Mosser said they should contact their local law enforcement agencies.
“We must identify human trafficking as quickly as possible and get involved to stop this from happening,” Mosser said.
