A federal court in Maine has charged a couple from Concord, N.H., with running a sex trafficking enterprise.
According to an indictment unsealed by the court Thursday, two Chinese nationals have been accused of running a prostitution ring between July 2016 and February of this year.
Court documents claim the operation was run by a married couple who used the messaging app WeChat to lure Chinese women to the U.S.
The defendants rented properties in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire and isolated the alleged victims while depriving them of food and clothing, prosecutors say.
The indictment lists hotel rooms and properties rented by the accused couple in Portsmouth, Dover and Manchester.
Both defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison on the sex trafficking charges.
The case is a joint investigation between Concord police, other local law enforcement as well as the FBI and other federal agencies.
