Press Release

Press Release  Beverly Couple Indicted for Trafficking Women for Sex at Salem Residence

For immediate release:
3/28/2019
  • Office of Attorney General Maura Healey

Media Contact   for Beverly Couple Indicted for Trafficking Women for Sex at Salem Residence

Emalie Gainey

Boston — A Beverly man and woman have been indicted for trafficking women for sex at a Salem residence that served as a front for alleged human trafficking and money laundering, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today. 

Woonryong Heo, age 29, and Hayun Nam, age 29, were indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury today on charges of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude (one count each), Deriving Support from Prostitution (one count each), Money Laundering (2 counts each), Conspiracy to Traffic Persons for Sexual Servitude (one count each), Keeping a House of Prostitution (one count each), Keeping a House of Ill Fame (one count each), and Identity Fraud (one count each). The defendants will be arraigned in Essex Superior Court on the charges at a later date.

The defendants were previously arrested and arraigned in February in Salem District Court where they both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bail was set at $50,000 cash for each defendant, with the conditions of release that both Heo and Nam remain on house arrest with GPS tracking, stay away from and have no contact with the victim, surrender their passports, and not travel out of state.

These charges are the result of an investigation by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office. During the investigation, authorities developed evidence indicating that Heo and Nam ran a profitable and organized criminal enterprise through a residence in Salem where they offered sexual activity between women and buyers in exchange for a fee. The defendants allegedly furnished and maintained the residence, set up appointments for sexual encounters, recruited women, and profited from the sexual encounters.

AG Healey’s Victim Services Division works with victim service organizations to ensure identified victims have assistance and services.

These charges are allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

AG Healey has a dedicated Human Trafficking Division that focuses on policy, prevention and prosecution and includes a team of specialized prosecutors, victim advocates and Massachusetts State Police troopers who handle high impact, multi-jurisdictional human trafficking investigations and prosecutions across the state. Through the Human Trafficking Division, the AG’s Office has charged more than 50 individuals in connection with human trafficking since the law was passed.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bourgeois, of the AG’s Human Trafficking Division, with assistance from AG Healey’s Victim/Witness Services Division Chief Nikki Antonucci and Senior Financial Investigator Molly Parks. The investigation was handled by the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, with assistance from the AG’s Digital Evidence Lab, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Beverly, Salem, Boston and Lexington Police Departments, and the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.

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Media Contact   for Beverly Couple Indicted for Trafficking Women for Sex at Salem Residence

  • Office of the Attorney General 

    Attorney General Maura Healey is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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