In Your Own Backyard

New Jersey cracks a case of 'modern-day slavery
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Trish G. Graber
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
From Newark to Atlantic City, he preyed on women at bus stations, train stations and nightclubs. He flashed his cash, proposed dinner dates in New York City and promised them a taste of the "good life."

He sought out women on drugs, and offered them more; those who were not yet hooked, he gave them a hit.

For nearly two decades, Allen Brown Jr., a k a "Prince," of Jersey City, allegedly lured scores of women into a life of prostitution, first confiscating their cell phones and any form of personal identification, and then forcing them to turn tricks until they made a nightly quota of up to $1,000, according to law enforcement officials who announced Brown's indictment by a state grand jury yesterday.

"This is a case about human trafficking which, put simply, is modern-day slavery," said Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Six others, including Brown's mother and niece, were also indicted in connection with the human sex trafficking ring yesterday on charges that resulted from an investigation by state and local officials, dubbed "Operation Red Light."

Milgram described the women's situation as "a living hell of addiction and prostitution."

Since 1990, officials said, Brown, 47, recruited women from Camden, Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Newark and Philadelphia. He brought them to living quarters he called "stables," in Jersey City, some which had locks that could only be opened with a key that few people held. His last known location was an upscale condominium in the Society Hill section of the city, officials said.

All of the women, ages 17 to 43, were required to make a certain amount of money each day, ranging from $500 to $1,000, or face beatings.