New sex slave case

1:34pm Saturday 3rd November 2007

POLICE have stepped up their investigation into human trafficking and prostitution after a third woman said she had been lured from Hungary and forced to work as a sex slave in Bolton.

The 36-year-old woman said she had been promised work in the town. But she found herself forced into a sordid world of vice.

Last week she escaped from the house in Halliwell where she said she was being held and was discovered by police on Wednesday.

She is now in the care of the police and is being interviewed by specially trained officers in the presence of interpreters to build a picture of her three-week ordeal.

The woman, a divorced mother, says she was sent to work at a food factory during the day.

But at night she was driven around Bolton and forced to have sex with men, often in groups.

She is the third woman this year to say she has been lured from Hungary to work in Bolton's sex trade.

A total of eight people have been arrested and four have been charged.

Detectives now believe they have begun to unravel a network of prostitution linked to the trafficking of Hungarian women.

The man leading the investigation, Det Insp Paul Hitchen, last night made a direct plea to men who pay for sex to come forward with information.

"We have reached a point where it appears there is a degree of structure and we are investigating the extent and nature of that," he said.

"Each of these women has been subjected to an horrific ordeal for what appears to be the financial gain of others.

"I cannot condone prostitution, but I would like to appeal to any men who use prostitutes in Bolton and have seen something which concerns them to contact us in confidence.

"Although these women did not speak English, it would have been clear that they were not willing participants in any sexual activity."

On Wednesday, two men were arrested in connection with the treatment of this latest victim.

A 36-year-old man is being questioned on suspicion of "trafficking for the purposes of prostitution" and a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape.

A day earlier police raided a house in Northfield Street, Deane, where four people were arrested on suspicion of bringing a 19-year-old to this country for the purposes of prostitution.

She says she was was made to work as a prostitute for five days before managing to flee and raise the alarm with police.

She has since been returned to Hungary.

In July, a 19-year-old woman said she had been brought to Bolton for a promised holiday only to be forced into sex.

She said she escaped after she managed to use a mobile phone to alert police in Hungary.

A man and a woman were arrested.

Anybody with information is asked to contact police on 0161 8565740.