Five Arrested on Sex Trafficking Charges Following Quincy Investigation

QUINCY, MA — Five men accused running brothels and a sex trafficking operation in multiple cities including Boston, Cambridge, North Reading, and Quincy were taken into custody Thursday.

Pingxia Fan, 40, of Boston, Timothy Hayes, 50, of Gloucester, Simon Shimao Lin, 59, of Boston, Robert Mozer, 65, of Deerfield, New Hampshire, and Biqun Xiao, 47, of Deerfield, New Hampshire, were arrested Thursday, according to the state's Attorney General's Office.

Fan, Hayes, and Lin were each charged with trafficking people for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution, money laundering, keeping a house of ill fame, and conspiracy. Mozer and Xiao were charged with conspiracy to traffic people for sexual servitude. All but Xiao were arraigned Thursday in Woburn District Court. Xiao was scheduled to be arraigned in Quincy District Court, but an attorney conflict pushed his court appearance to Friday morning.

The investigation revealed that the five defendants allegedly ran a sex trafficking and money laundering operation involving multiple brothels in Boston, Cambridge, North Reading, and two in Quincy. The defendants allegedly posted online advertisements offering sexual services and used multiple vehicles to transport sex trafficking victims, money and supplies, the AG's office said.

The defendants allegedly arranged for women to meet with men at the brothel locations to provide commercial sexual services in exchange for cash. Authorities allege the majority of the money from these encounters went to the defendants, which they laundered into the business to perpetuate the daily operations of the criminal enterprise.

Thursday morning, members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and state police searched a home at the corner of Newport and North Central Avenues in Wollaston and an apartment at 229 Quarry St. In Wollaston, investigators removed a Toyota Camry and woman who police called a victim was taken out of the home and into a police van, according to the Patriot Ledger.

At around 10 a.m. officials were seen carrying boxes of evidence out of the home.

Various units from the Massachusetts State Police provided assistance in this case. The Boston, Cambridge, Gloucester, Newton, North Reading, Quincy and Revere Police Departments also provided assistance.

Information in this article was provided by the state's Attorney General's Office.

Image via Shutterstock