KENT, Wash. — A 52-year-old Kent man with a lengthy criminal history was charged in King County Superior Court with two counts of first-degree promoting prostitution and two counts of second-degree rape.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred between July 5, 2017, and July 5, 2019.
In charging documents, prosecutors say Maurice Anthony Brown “forced multiple women to engage in prostitution through threats and acts of physical violence against them. He also raped two known victims and possibly others.”
Officers wrote in a probable cause document that in June 2019, they received a tip from a woman about sex trafficking occurring at Brown’s Kent residence.
The woman said she had known Brown for seven months and would drive him around while he forced women to work as prostitutes in southern King County, according to a probable cause document.
According to police, the woman said most of the women are transients addicted to drugs and were lured by Brown through offers of free drugs and housing.
“(The woman) believes (Brown) has forced over 150 different females in the seven months she has driven him around to work as prostitutes,” police wrote in a probable cause document.
Police said they interviewed an additional alleged victim who provided similar information about Brown as the original witness.
Brown was arrested July 3 at the Iron Horse Casino in Auburn and later booked into the King County Jail, where he remains in lieu of a $500,000 bail.
His arraignment, where he will enter a plea, is expected later this year.
Brown’s criminal history includes previous convictions of drug possession, aggravated sodomy, rape and kidnapping, among others.
Prosecutors cited Brown’s criminal history and likeliness to not appear for future court dates as reasons for the high bail.
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