A brothel operating out of a short-term rental home in Plano was the subject of talk among shocked neighbors on Friday after the arrest of a woman whom police accused of exploiting it.
“We’re a very quiet neighborhood with a lot of kids,” resident Judy Lombardi said. “I’m in shock. Everyone is in shock. How could this happen right across the street?”
Dallas police said they received information in July about a sex trafficking ring operating in North Dallas.
The department’s Special Investigations Division began examining it, and investigators later discovered that the ring was functioning in Plano’s home on Las Palmas Lane.
A brothel in a quiet Plano neighborhood has been shut down by two-city police. The prostitution operation started in Dallas but moved to a short-term rental house in Plano. Reports by Ken Kalthoff.
On Thursday, Plano and Dallas police executed a search warrant and arrested Brandy Cliff, 41, on charges of aggravated promotion of prostitution.
A 22-year-old woman was also arrested on an assault warrant in Hays County.
Dallas police said several other people at the home were interviewed and released.
These other women were obviously victims of sex trafficking.
Bianca Davis is the chief operating officer of a group called New friends New life who campaigns against sex trafficking.
“This is another example of how human trafficking can literally happen anywhere and everywhere. If we’re looking for white vans in a parking lot, we’re going to miss it,” Davis said.
New Friends New Life works with the police to help victims find employment and get advice on how to recover.
“These partnerships ensure that when the victim is rescued or recovered, they receive resources instead of being re-victimized due to what they were forced to do in that situation,” Davis said.
Neighbors said they noticed unusual activity in the house since Sunday.
“This traffic coming and going that we saw, what you suspect was a drug house, but that was totally different,” neighbor Austin Cook said.
Lombardi watched what happened during the bust on Thursday afternoon.
“The police all came and they had guns and they entered the house and then they started taking the girls out one by one and put them on the sidewalk,” Lombardi said.
Lombardi said between 10 and 15 girls came out of the house in various states of undress and the police covered them with towels.
The police explained what was happening to the neighbors.
“Starting in Dallas and then moving here to Plano, it was very interesting. I think the police did a great job of getting in here and cleaning this up very quickly,” Cook said.
In a statement to the media, Dallas police said the investigation is ongoing.
Like some other North Texas cities, Plano is in the midst of a debate over regulating short-term rentals.
Opponents of short-term rentals in Plano’s residential neighborhoods use this incident as an example of why the business should be banned.
“This is about the safety of our children and the safety of our families,” said Plano resident Bill France.
France also leads the Plano, Texas Neighborhood Coalition, a chapter formed to stop short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods in Plano.
“Most of these short-term rentals don’t live in Plano, they don’t even live in Texas, and it’s a perfect incubator for crime and criminal activity,” France said.
France has recently attended several city council meetings to protest against short-term rentals.
Currently, no regulations or registrations are required for them in Plano.
It’s a topic for a Plano City Council meeting on October 10.
The city says outside attorneys will explain the state of the law on short-term rentals and provide legal advice on what the city should do.
Although the property was listed on Airbnb, the company says the house was not booked through Airbnb.
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