A brothel manager who was caught when he tried to help a worker in his massage parlor get the morning-after pill has been jailed.
Police launched an investigation after Steven Jones went to a branch of Boots in Denton with a woman who worked in his brothel, Cristal Main.
Staff at the pharmacy called police after being concerned the woman, who was Romanian, had been trafficked – and officers raided the brothel on Amelia Street, Denton.
No evidence of trafficking was found, but police discovered £1,200 cash on the premises, plus another £25,000 cash at Jones’ home on Simmondley Lane in Glossop.
After pleading guilty to keeping a brothel and controlling another in relation to prostitution at an earlier hearing, Jones, 58, was yesterday sentenced to eight months in prison.
Co-defendant Stacy Dawn Turner, 39, of Waterloo Street in Ashton, who was working on the reception desk at the time Cristal Main was raided, had earlier pleaded guilty to assisting in the management of a brothel.
She was sentenced to 100 hours’ unpaid work and a 12 month community order after the court heard she carried out day-to-day tasks like cleaning rooms and taking money from punters.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard Jones, 58, began running a brothel on Amelia Street, Denton, around nine years ago after failing to get a licence to open a lap dancing club. He earned around £1,000 a month from the brothel which also sold libido-enhancing pills to punters for a profit of £4 each.
Amos Waldman, defending Jones, said his client had not led a lavish lifestyle from the proceeds of the brothel and had been paying council tax and VAT on his earnings.
He added: “The police had visited [Cristal Main] a number of times previously and expressed the view that as long as there were no drugs or trafficking he would face no action. He only came to the awareness of authorities as he attempted to assist the girl obtaining contraception.
“He is extremely remorseful and on his release intends to return to lawful business.”
Sentencing Jones and Turner, who both had no previous convictions, His Honour Judge Jeffrey Lewis said: “The fact remains that keeping a brothel or controlling another for prostitution is against the law.”
Jones, who has already served four-and-a-half months in custody while on remand, faces a proceeds of crime hearing in January next year.
