Organised prostitution gangs targeting Jersey

Thursday 05 February 2015

Police believe gangs are using Jersey’s hotels to pimp out “potentially vulnerable teenagers and adults”.

Officers have been briefing hotel staff about what to look out for as they continue to target prostitution in the Island – in December a man was kicked out of Jersey after admitting in court that he brought two women over, including his pregnant girfriend, to work as prostitutes in a town hotel.

One of the women saw three clients in an afternoon at the Panama Apartments in Green Street, with each one of them paying £80.

The case prompted a call from the Magistrate Bridget Shaw for a review of the 120-year-old prostitution law, after it emerged that the most she could sentence the man to was a £50 fine or three months in prison.

Police are now investigating whether there is an organised crime element to prostitution in Jersey.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Beechey said: “We believe that some of the women, and men, receiving payment for sexual services may be vulnerable and possibly being controlled by others, as well as facing obvious risks when alone with clients.

“We want to ensure the safety of these people from exploitation and trafficking, however this is not always an easy task as many do not see themselves as victims. By educating hotel staff we hope to be able to identify those who are potentially vulnerable and engage with them.”

Police have issued hotels with leaflets containing long checklists of things to look out for to identify “guests” who are using their rooms to pimp out women.

The list includes:

• Adults refusing to leave credit card details and paying in cash.
• Teenagers loitering in public areas/external areas of premises.
• Guests with local addresses renting a room.
• Guests who appear secretive about their visit or trying to conceal their activities in the room, or who they are with last minute/walk-in bookings.
• Bookings made in different names to those who check-in/person speaking a different language to the person booking.
• Frequent visitors to the hotel who do not appear to have a reason for being there.
• Guests who move in and out of the premises regularly at unusual hours.
• Guest rooms with a lot of condoms/condom wrappers, drugs/drug paraphernalia (e.g. syringes, wraps, pipes, bongs, broken light bulbs, spoons, plastic bags).
• Signs of alcohol, drug or substance misuse.
• High traffic to guest room.
• Guests arriving and asking for a specific room number but they don’t know the name in which the room is booked.
• Guests who don’t want their room cleaned or visited.
• Guests who do not have any luggage or ID.
• Young people with significantly older boyfriends/girlfriends.
• Guests who appear to be under the age of 25 for ID both in the licensed area and when delivering alcohol to rooms.
• A pre-paid bar tab to a room where children stay.
• Number of persons visiting a room at regular intervals – a person may have arranged for others to visit the room where a child is being sexually exploited.
• Young persons who appear overly made up.
• Guests who access an excessive or unusual amount of pornography (TV or computer). 
• Individuals who appear to be monitoring public areas.