TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A prostitution operation was uncovered in Tulare County and two siblings were arrested and charged as a result after a man discovered the massage he sought out was much more involved than he had expected, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said.
According to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office, the man found a Facebook Marketplace ad for a local massage business in Tipton in May. When he reached out for an appointment, the DA says he quickly learned that the business was not legitimate and reported it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Over the next several months, the DA says investigators authored numerous search warrants for phone records and GPS tracking devices. The investigation culminated in the execution of search warrants in both Tulare and Fresno Counties which resulted in the arrest of siblings Enrique Castro Reyes, 27, and Erika Castro Reyes, 30, according to the DA.
The DA says the pair were arrested and charged on Aug. 19 with felony pandering by encouragement and pimping. Both siblings remain in custody.
“A good Samaritan, armed with the knowledge of how human trafficking can work and
the resources available to him to report it, made the right call,” said Tulare County
District Attorney Tim Ward. “This is exactly why we created the Tulare County Human
Trafficking Task Force in 2014 and have dedicated extensive time and energy on shining
a light on this type of crime.”
A preliminary hearing setting for the Reyes ‘ is scheduled for Sept. 30 in the Tulare County
Superior Court.
The operation was a joint effort between the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the Fresno Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the California Department of Justice and the Tulare Police Department.
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