Vice detective ran interstate prostitution ring after he retired

A former vice detective with the San Diego Police Department has pled guilty to managing several brothels in California and Arizona that fronted as massage parlors.

On Tuesday, 78-year-old Peter Griffin and three co-defendants admitted that they had run the prostitution ring for nearly 10 years. From 2013 until last August, the defendants operated the Genie Oriental, Felicita, Blue Green, Maple, and Massage W spas, all of which are located near San Diego, California, and Tempe, Arizona. Though these "spas" appeared to be legitimate massage businesses, Griffin and his associates — Kyung Sook Hernandez, 58, Yu Hong Tan, 56, and Yoo Jin Ott, 46 — hired women to perform sexual services there.

The defendants advertised their businesses on websites "known to promote commercial sex," CBS News reported, and then found prospective prostitutes from these same websites. They then rented apartments to house the prostitutes, at least one of whom was likely a Chinese immigrant. "Leave [your] morals in China," one prostitute was allegedly told, and "make the customers happy."

Though four people were implicated in the illegal sex scheme, much of the focus has been on Griffin, who spent almost 30 years with SDPD, from 1975 until he retired in 2002. For at least part of that time, Griffin worked as a member of the Vice Operations Unit, gaining knowledge and experience that he then used to circumvent the legal system.

"Peter Griffin misused the expertise acquired during his time as a vice detective and abused the respect that came with his badge – all to ensure that his 'massage parlors' operated under the radar for his personal financial gain," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr.

If nothing else, prosecutors alleged, Griffin should have known the damage that such prostitution shops can have on the local community and on the vulnerable women who work in them.

"The defendant – a former vice detective who once took an oath to uphold our laws – knew more than most that illicit massage businesses cruelly profit by exploiting women for commercial sex," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. "We are committed to prosecuting the proprietors of these illegal businesses, and to shining a light on those places where sexual exploitation and trafficking persist."

Griffin pled guilty to conspiracy to violate the Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering Act, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering and faces up to 30 years in federal prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 7.

The other defendants pled guilty to misprision of a felony and face three years. Their sentencing dates are unknown.

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