A man who owes seven women more than $70,000 for child support apparently made some payments using proceeds from an Internet-based prostitution ring he ran, investigators say.
According to Snohomish County Superior Court records, authorities believe the man controlled at least two women through intimidation and violence, rented motel rooms for them and took their prostitution earnings after advertising on Craigslist.org, The (Everett) Herald reported Tuesday.
Detectives wrote that the man came to their attention in March after a woman said she saw her daughter's picture on the popular free advertising Web site with what appeared to be an advertisement for sex. The mother said her daughter was being "pimped out" by a man who assaulted the younger woman and refused to let her visit her family, according to a search warrant.
Police found the man had several women working for him and may have earned as much as $300,000 in the past two years, using some of the funds to make support payments for his eight children, all younger than 5.
The man was arrested last month for investigation of first-degree promoting prostitution but posted bail a few hours after being booked. In court documents he described himself as a "private caregiver" who sometimes has trouble collecting from clients.
Police also searched two apartments and seized computers, drug paraphernalia and about $2,300 in cash.
As of Tuesday no charges had been filed, police Sgt. Robert Goetz said. He would not identify the man, who also was not identified in the newspaper report.
Detectives found the man was on probation for bank fraud in the 1990s and didn't have any employment history, but always seemed to have money and often arrived at the probation office in an expensive vehicle driven by different women.
