A 54-year-old woman is sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for aggravated prostitution when she ran a brothel at a massage parlor in Kristianstad.
The woman is also banned from eating for five years. Her former husband, who was charged with serious money laundering, is acquitted. This is because, according to the court, it is not beyond reasonable doubt that he knew where the money he handled came from.
Tip – after note
The sex buying spree was unraveled after a tip that sex was being sold in the massage parlour. One of the women who worked at the salon wrote a note and handed it to a neighbor in the stairwell. Two months later, the police swooped.
“The owner of the massage parlor sells sexual services. She forced me. Call the police, they’re selling sex,” the note read.
According to the Kristianstad District Court, she has earned at least SEK 400,000 from the illegal activity.
– I mean that the owner has controlled the daily operations and encouraged the women to sell sex. She has administered the customers and taken part of the money from the sex purchases. The crimes also include attempts at serious pimping because she has tried to persuade more women to sell sex, says prosecutor Emelie Månsson.
Women receive damages
Because several of the women have been exploited in a ruthless way, three of the women are awarded damages of SEK 10,000 each. In addition, four men are sentenced to suspended sentences and daily fines for buying sex. Another 22 men who have visited the salon have previously been convicted of the same crime.
One of them, 60 years old, was a high-ranking manager in a municipal company in Skåne. Another is a 46-year-old man who works in health care. A man in his 30s says in questioning that he “regrets it to hell”. In total, it is about 250 sex buyers.
– The victims have been handled almost like merchandise, said Emelie Månsson according to local media during the trial.