A woman who operated 'The Playhouse of Domination', a BDSM business, (which stands for "bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism,") was sentenced to 15 years in prison with additional 20 years of supervised release. She was charged for trafficking two women on Thursday. The accused ran her business in an apartment she rented in Louisville, Kentucky.
Cleoretta Allen, 41,forced two young women into various activities in 2017 which included illegal prostitution. The DoJ said that till 2017, the business gave non-sexual BDSM services to adults but, when two of Allen's employees quit the revenues decreased which led the accused to force the two young victims to provide commercial sexual acts to the clients in the Louisville area.
Drove the women to Georgia to provide services
Allen posted online advertisements on various websites which advertised the services provided including the rate. Allen was arrested after one of the victims called the police in October of 2017. On one occasion the accused drove the young women to Georgia to 'provide services' to one of the clients. It was reported that under several occasions the women were physically abused by Allen. The abuse had caused the victim to seek medical attention as well.
U.S. Attorney Russel Coleman for the Western District of Kentucky said that those who commit crimes of this nature lose sight of the humanity of their victims; that they are someone's daughter, a person with dignity and value, someone's little girl. The evidence presented to the court led to the sentencing of the woman and the attorney said that such conduct will not be tolerated in the Western District.
The restitution to human trafficking is mandatory under federal laws, the court has not determined the appropriate amount.
Human Trafficking charges in Kentucky
In 2018, out of the 141 cases of human trafficking reported in Kentucky there were 97 cases of sexual trafficking. The reported cases had pornography, residence based commercial sex, illicit massages or spa business, online ad among others as an industry or a key venue held for the trafficking. Allen's case, which was reported in 2017, remains one of the several examples of sex trafficking business that is based out of a local venue in Kentucky.
