10 Korean 'Sex Slaves' Freed in Sydney
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Police have rescued 10 South Korean women who were forced to work in a Sydney brothel by a sex slavery syndicate that lured them to Australia with promises of legitimate jobs, officials said Friday.
Four Australian men and women and a South Korean woman were arrested early Friday and charged with multiple offenses relating to a sex trafficking business that was making $2.8 million a year, Australian Federal Police and the Immigration Department said in a joint statement.
The victims, who were rescued by police Thursday, were receiving counseling and government support, immigration official Lyn O'Connell said. She said no decision had been made on whether they would remain in Australia as prosecution witnesses.
Police allege the syndicate recruited women in South Korea by deceiving them about the jobs on offer and then organized their work visas, the government statement said. It did not say what type of jobs the women were offered.
Once in Australia, the syndicate took the women's passports and forced them to work as prostitutes in a legal brothel for up to 20 hours a day, the statement said. It did not say how long the women had been enslaved.