'Upscale' Bellevue Brothel Operator Arrested

BELLEVUE, WA — Police have arrested a 36-year-old woman on prostitution charges for operating an "upscale" brothel out of a downtown Bellevue apartment building.

Bellevue detectives found out about the brothel after meeting a woman who was forced to work there. The woman told police she was forced to have sex with up to 10 men per day, and had found the job through the Chinese messaging app WeChat.

At the time of her arrest, the brothel owner was found with about $5,100, which police believe came from prostitution. The brothel was located in a building along 108th Avenue Northeast near Northeast 2nd Place.

The bust is just the latest in a series of high-profile prostitution stings in downtown Bellevue.

In September 2017, police revealed that they had set up a fake brothel to catch johns as part of "Operation On Demand." One-hundred and ten men were arrested in that sting, although 61 had their cases tossed because police made audio recordings of the men without their consent.

Another downtown brothel, detailed in an extensive Seattle Times story, trafficked young South Korean women. The men who patronized the brothel called themselves the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and wrote online reviews of their experiences.