Blackburn sex trafficking trio jailed
- Published
Cristian Vasile, Cristian Stan and Ionut Stan admitted human trafficking and sexual exploitation offences
Three men have been jailed for human trafficking and sexual exploitation despite their victims refusing to make complaints against them.
Two Romanian women, aged in their 20s, were found in a house in Accrington Road, Blackburn in May last year.
Ionut Stan, 32, Cristian Stan, 31, and Cristian Vasile, 34, were sentenced at Preston Crown Court.
They admitted trafficking the women and using them in brothels around Lancashire.
Lancashire Police said Vasile was the ringleader, setting up adverts on websites, arranging the wording and photographs and dealing with the payments.
The Stan brothers trafficked the women from Romania, bringing them to the house in Accrington Road.
Sentences in full
Cristian Vasile, 34, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to facilitating the travel of another person with a view to them being sexually exploited, keeping a brothel used for prostitution, and causing prostitution for gain and was sentenced to five years
Ionut Stan, 32, of Accrington Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to facilitating the travel of another person with a view to them being sexually exploited and was sentenced to two years and four months
Cristian Stan, 31, of Accrington Road, Blackburn pleaded guilty to facilitating the travel of another person with a view to them being sexually exploited and was sentenced to three years and two months
Two Romanian women were found at a property on Accrington Road which was "being used as a brothel", police said
Det Sgt Tony Atkins said the case showed "even without the support of a victim complaint we can gather evidence and secure prosecutions against these organised crime groups who are preying on vulnerable [women]".
He said the gang had moved women around Lancashire, using them in brothels in Preston and Blackburn and hotels in West Yorkshire.
"The victims had been conditioned to believe this was normal and this was acceptable for them to be abused on a daily basis... while [these men] sat there organising the next customer," he added.