This report is a with a slightly different twist that the ‘normal’ trafficking in persons and prostitution stories from Costa Rica.
The Fiscalía Adjunta contra la Trata de Personas y el Tráfico Ilícito de Migrantes (Deputy Prosecutor’s Office against Trafficking in Persons and the Illicit Trafficking of Migrants) reports finding guilty a man on two counts of proxenetismo agravado (aggravated pimping) and one count of extorsión (extortion), and a 12 years prison sentence.
The man, identified as Bernal Chaves Godínez and known as ‘Marcela’, would receive male sex workers at his home in San Jose to sexually exploit them.
The victims were men from Guatemala, Honduras, and Venezuela, who were required to pay, on average, ¢10,000 colones for the room and ¢5,000 for each client they serviced for 30 minutes.
The charge of extortion was because the sex workers were required to pay a sum ranging from US$2,000 to US$3,000 for the right to practice prostitution in some areas of San Jose. If they did not pay, wanted to operate independently, the defendant threatened them and sent people to do them harm.
Important to note, prostitution or men or women over the age of 18 in Costa Rica is not prohibited. However, pimping (proxenetismo is prohibited. So is extortion.
Read more on the subject:
- OIJ Raided Tourist Center in La Fortuna, San Carlos For Prostitution
- Schoolgirls Recruited Classmates For Prostitution
- On average every 15 days there is a “trafficking” victim in Costa Rica
- Tica Arrested For Bringing in Dominican Women Illegally For Prostitution
