Woburn Man Among 9 Arrested in Burlington Prostitution Ring

By LINDA BOCK (Patch Staff)

Photos: Burlington Police Department

Nine local men, including a Woburn resident, were arrested Sunday for running a prostitution ring in Burlington, according to police.

Their recent sting operation was broadly advertised with a media campaign by the Burlington Police Department in an attempt to scare off people from coming to Burlington for prostitution.

“We will do these operations until nobody shows up to be arrested,” said Detective James Tigges, who helped execute the successful sting last week.

The sting netted nine arrests, including an alleged sex trafficker, according to Police Chief Police Chief Michael R. Kent.

“The arrest of Mr. Simpkins puts an exclamation mark on this operation, and it shows exactly why we get out there regularly in an attempt to interdict sex crimes in our community,” Chief Kent said. “Prostitution is not a victimless crime, and we can only wonder how many other people like Simpkins are out there, luring, trapping, and victimizing women who do not happen to be an undercover police officer.”

In the process of conducting the operation, the undercover officer was approached by an alleged human trafficker, who attempted to “recruit” the undercover officer to work for him.

Similar to operations conducted in the past, detectives conducted a reverse sting to target potential customers for prostitutes and human traffickers.

“This is done in an effort to drive these kinds of crimes away from Burlington, a hub of commerce and hotels and a crossroads of several major highways,” according to Burlington Police.

For the operation, a female police officer posted ads on a website that is well-known for being a haven for classified ads offering sex for a fee.

Arrested were:

• Emad Aljahdii, 34, of Burlington

• Aaron Bath,43, of Billerica

• Richard Homsi, 50, of Waltham

• Auric Mak, 35, of Lowell

• Grishkumar Patel,53, of Woburn

• Anthony Petruno, 29, of Acton

• Mauro Santiago, 36, of Dracut

• Shakwaan Simpkins, 24, of Brockton

All of the men except Simpkins, were charged with engaging in sexual conduct for a fee. Simpkins was charged with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude after he responded to the sting operation advertisement and called the undercover officer, arranging to meet and attempting to “recruit” her to work as a prostitute for him.

Homsi was also charged with indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 after he allegedly groped the undercover officer. He was arrested without incident, and the officer was not injured.

The nine individuals arrested are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Woburn District Court.