Crime & Safety

Cops: 3 Women Arrested In New Brothel Bust

Flanders arrests came after a months' long investigation, police say.

Only days after a high profile bust of an alleged house of prostitution in Riverhead, police arrested three Flanders women on Saturday on charges of prostitution.

Members of the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit, State Police Troop L Riverside, and the Department of Homeland Security, with assistance from the Southampton Police Department, arrested three women in an alleged prostitution operation located at 424 Flanders Road in Flanders.

Mariluz Fonseca, 62 of 424 Flanders Road in Flanders was charged with promoting prostitution in the third degree, a class "D" felony. Milady Leclerc-Roman, 59, of the Bronx, was charged with prostitution, a B misdemeanor. Belkis Serrano-Tejeda, 40 ,of 424 Flanders Road was also charged with prostitution.

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The investigation into the brothel began a couple months ago after information was received by law enforcement of the activities occurring at the residence, police say. Following their arrest, the three women were processed at the state police facility in Riverside and held in the Suffolk County Sheriff's Detention Facility pending arraignment on Saturday. 

The arrests followed the bust of a Riverhead brothel last week, which left some neighbors shocked. Recently, the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Civic Association raised concerns about escalating drug crime and prostitution in their communities and demanded answers from Southampton Town Police.

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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