Police: Woman ran brothel out of Belltown apartment
SEATTLE -- Prosecutors have filed charges against a woman accused of running a brothel out of an apartment unit in the city's Belltown neighborhood.
Kaiyana N. McCloud, 28, faces three counts of second-degree prostitution promotion for incidents that occurred between July and September of this year.
Police believe McCloud ran a brothel out of an apartment unit in the 200 block of Wall Street, according to a statement of probable cause.
The manager of the building first alerted authorities in July after her staff noted strange men frequenting the apartment, only staying for an hour or so at a time.
In the following days, detectives approached a man who left the apartment. The man admitted he had visited the apartment unit for prostitution, and provided the detectives with the Web site for the establishment, investigators said.
The Web site advertised 10 different girls working out of the apartment unit, but the service - Agency Elite - claimed to have "businesses all over the United States," according to court documents.
Using the phone number listed on the site, three undercover police officers made appointments with Agency Elite escort girls in the coming days. At each of the appointments, the officers were presented with an offer for a sex act to be performed, investigators said, but each time the officers used an excuse to avoid engaging in such acts.
Then in August, a female undercover officer applied for a job at Agency Elite. A woman named "Rachel" told the officer that the escort girls "have sex with the customers and charge between $300 and $350," the documents said. Rachel told the officer she kept 30 percent of that money, and the girls kept the rest.
Detectives learned all the bills for Agency Elite - the Internet connection, the apartment rent, phone bill - were all registered and being paid for by an individual named Kaiyana McCloud. Records at the state Employment Security Office indicated McCloud had not had any known income since the beginning of 2006.
On Oct. 2, the police served a search warrant at the apartment and arrested McCloud. Upon being questioned, authorities said McCloud admitted to owning Agency Elite and employing girls to have sex with male customers.
McCloud was initially jailed, but has since been released pending the outcome of the case.
Records show McCloud was arrested for investigation of prostitution in January 2000, but charges were later dismissed due to lack of proof.
Kaiyana N. McCloud, 28, faces three counts of second-degree prostitution promotion for incidents that occurred between July and September of this year.
Police believe McCloud ran a brothel out of an apartment unit in the 200 block of Wall Street, according to a statement of probable cause.
The manager of the building first alerted authorities in July after her staff noted strange men frequenting the apartment, only staying for an hour or so at a time.
In the following days, detectives approached a man who left the apartment. The man admitted he had visited the apartment unit for prostitution, and provided the detectives with the Web site for the establishment, investigators said.
The Web site advertised 10 different girls working out of the apartment unit, but the service - Agency Elite - claimed to have "businesses all over the United States," according to court documents.
Using the phone number listed on the site, three undercover police officers made appointments with Agency Elite escort girls in the coming days. At each of the appointments, the officers were presented with an offer for a sex act to be performed, investigators said, but each time the officers used an excuse to avoid engaging in such acts.
Then in August, a female undercover officer applied for a job at Agency Elite. A woman named "Rachel" told the officer that the escort girls "have sex with the customers and charge between $300 and $350," the documents said. Rachel told the officer she kept 30 percent of that money, and the girls kept the rest.
Detectives learned all the bills for Agency Elite - the Internet connection, the apartment rent, phone bill - were all registered and being paid for by an individual named Kaiyana McCloud. Records at the state Employment Security Office indicated McCloud had not had any known income since the beginning of 2006.
On Oct. 2, the police served a search warrant at the apartment and arrested McCloud. Upon being questioned, authorities said McCloud admitted to owning Agency Elite and employing girls to have sex with male customers.
McCloud was initially jailed, but has since been released pending the outcome of the case.
Records show McCloud was arrested for investigation of prostitution in January 2000, but charges were later dismissed due to lack of proof.