February 18, 11

NEWS / Guam Bar Owner Found Guilty for Sex Trafficking and Related Crimes

WASHINGTON – An owner of bar in Guam was found guilty today of sex trafficking, and coercion and enticement for prostitution related to a scheme to force young women and one juvenile girl into prostitution, the Department of Justice announced. The jury in Guam found Song Ja Cha, 69, guilty on all 20 counts of an indictment returned on July 23, 2008. The trial lasted eight days.

According to court documents, from 2004 through January 2008, Cha and others in the conspiracy recruited and enticed approximately nine victims to come to Guam from the island of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. The victims were largely poor, young and uneducated. Cha lured the young women and one 16-year-old girl to Guam by promising them legitimate employment in a restaurant or store. In actuality, Cha was the proprietor of Blue House Lounge, a bar that included approximately six VIP rooms offering commercial sex.

According to evidence presented in court, Cha and her co-conspirators compelled the victims to work in the VIP rooms for 12 to 14 hours a day for the financial benefit of the conspiracy. Upon the victims’ arrival to the Blue House Lounge, Cha stripped the young women of their passports, clothing and identities. Cha then used a variety of means to compel the victims to engage in prostitution, including physical assaults, threats of arrest, manipulation of debt, withholding food and restricted access to the outside world. The victims testified that they were terrified of Cha and her co-conspirators, and that Cha used the fact that police officers frequented the lounge to make the victims believe that she was "connected" and could have them arrested and jailed.

"The sexual exploitation of vulnerable individuals is an affront to fundamental rights and will not be tolerated in our country. The defendant preyed on the hopes and dreams of these young victims, forcing them into a life of prostitution," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously prosecuting the trafficking of human beings to uphold the rights of those held in modern-day slavery, whether for labor or for sexual exploitation."

"Human traffickers trick, lie and coerce young women with a promise of work in a legitimate job," said Alicia Limtiaco, U.S. Attorney for the District of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. "In reality, these young women lose their freedom and are horribly demeaned by the sexual acts that they are forced to perform. Defendant Cha preyed on vulnerable victims and used threats and abuse to force them into prostitution. The jury’s verdict makes clear that sex trafficking schemes will not be tolerated. We will continue to find traffickers and hold them accountable for their crimes."

Cha faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Sentencing has been set for May 18, 2011.

The Department of Justice has identified human trafficking prosecutions such as this one as a top priority.

This case was investigated by special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Guam Police Department. This case was prosecuted by trial attorneys Jared Fishman and Shan Patel of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Criminal Section with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta San Nicolas and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

To report trafficking crimes, please call the Department of Homeland Security Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/February/11-crt-205.html

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