The indictment Tuesday of a 28-year-old Ewa Beach man on three charges of first-degree promotion of prostitution marks the first time that the city prosecutor’s office has used legislative reforms to charge a suspected pimp with a Class A felony, a serious charge that carries the possibility of substantial prison time and fines.
An Oahu grand jury charged Isaiah Black with compelling or inducing a 22-year-old woman to engage in prostitution by force, threat, fraud or intimidation and profiting from the activity, which allegedly took place from April 22 to May 28, from July 1 to Oct. 31, 2011, and from May 1 to June 30, 2010.
If convicted, Black would have his name added to the sex offender registry, and he could face up to 20 years in jail and up to a $50,000 fine per count. If convicted of multiple counts, he also could be subject to an extended term of life in prison with parole.
Black was arrested June 19 on charges stemming from a sting conducted by Honolulu police May 28 at the White Sands Hotel. The property, at 431 Nohonani St., is not far from what police and criminals call the "Waikiki track," a multiblock stretch where streetwalkers are a common nightly sight.
"There aren’t too many of these arrests that come along, so this one is a big deal," said the Honolulu Police Department’s Maj. Cary Okimoto. "It’s a significant thing to get a pimp out of the district."
Arrests of alleged pimps have been rare in Hawaii; however, state laws passed in 2011 have helped law enforcement by increasing the penalties for both pimps and prostitutes’ customers, and by offering protections for the prostituted victims.
"The approach of my office has been to go after the people who profit from prostitution," Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said Tuesday. "In cases where prostitutes have been coerced, they are victims as well."
So far, Black is the third alleged pimp whom prosecutors have charged under new felony prostitution charges.
In March 26-year-old Raymond D. Doyle and his girlfriend, 23-year-old Toye E. Welburn, were the first in Hawaii to be charged with the upgraded Class B felony of second-degree promotion of prostitution, which now carries a potential 10-year prison term. They were arrested in a March 18 police sting in Waikiki. According to court documents, Doyle also was charged with second-degree terroristic threatening against an undercover police officer.
The arrests and charges underscore the difference that a few years and a few legislative changes can make, said Kathryn Xian, executive director of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery.
In 2011 Black was the sole alleged pimp arrested by HPD. But his case, which was a misdemeanor at the time, was dismissed after two key witnesses disappeared, Xian said. "It used to happen all the time. Either the pimps would threaten the girls, or the girls would get into the system and become too afraid that it couldn’t keep them safe," she said.
Prostitution promotion cases historically have been difficult to investigate "because they generally require the cooperation and testimony of the prostitute, something that’s not easy to obtain," said Maj. Jerry Inouye, commander of HPD’s Narcotics/Vice Division. However, HPD this year has had two cases where women agreed to identify their pimps and assist in the prosecution, he said. One of the women, Black’s alleged victim, privately testified before an Oahu grand jury Tuesday.
Supporters of the new laws, which are part of a broader effort to shift enforcement in prostitution cases to sex traffickers, say that they have encouraged victims to come forward.
According to HPD, officers originally arrested Black’s alleged victim for solicitation following a sting in which she agreed to have sex with an undercover officer for $200. The charge was dropped after the woman told police that Black had intimidated her into prostitution and she wanted their help getting out of it.
"In the past the laws were bull-crap. Human trafficking wasn’t acknowledged in Hawaii at all," the 22-year-old woman told the Star-Advertiser. "If someone got in trouble, it was just a misdemeanor. Basically, if your pimp got caught, you had to hope the feds picked him up because state-wise it wasn’t a big deal. Pretty recently it’s different."
That sentiment was echoed by a 20-year-old woman who testified against Doyle and Welburn before a grand jury earlier this year. (The Star-Advertiser is not naming either woman because they are victims in the alleged crimes.)
The 20-year-old woman told the Star-Advertiser that Doyle and Welburn trafficked her from California to Hawaii and forced her to engage in prostitution. She said she was in town for less than a week when she, Doyle and Welburn were arrested following a sting at the Courtyard Waikiki by Marriott. While the woman’s alleged traffickers were booked that night, she wasn’t booked or charged.
"I was taken to a safe house. There was enough evidence that I wasn’t doing it on my own will," said the woman, who added that she has since found out that she is pregnant. "Getting busted was a blessing. There’s a prostitution track in Los Angeles just for pregnant women. If the police hadn’t come, I probably would be there now."
The woman said she is thankful that Doyle and Welburn are still in jail, and she plans to cooperate with police during their July trial to keep them there.
"It makes me nervous, but I’m going to testify against them," she said. "If they had not changed the laws, I wouldn’t have been confident enough to do this."
Residents of the Waikiki neighborhood where many of these alleged crimes are reported to have occurred say they are thankful for the reforms and for the willingness of police to make arrests and victims to testify.
"I applaud the police for their efforts because pimps really subject young women to bad situations," said Waikiki Neighborhood Board member Liz Larson. "As a neighborhood, we’d also really like to thank these young women. We really admire their courage."
Xian said she hopes the reforms and the victims’ willingness to testify will serve as a warning that Hawaii is getting tougher on pimps and traffickers.
"(Isaiah Black) was very active in Hawaii," she said. "Hopefully, his arrest and conviction will send a message to other old-timers that they can get busted. With these policy changes in place and more coming, it’s only a matter of time before they get caught."
