Community tips lead to takedown of New Jersey brothel

CAMDEN, N.J. — Two New Jersey men were charged in state court Thursday for promoting prostitution following community tips and a law enforcement operation at a brothel.

These charges resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Camden County (New Jersey) Prosecutors Office, and the Camden County Police Department and Sheriff’s Office.

Two suspects, Roberto Lemuz, 39, of Camden, New Jersey and Esteban Alcemon, 39, of New York City, were taken into custody and charged with third-degree promoting prostitution.  They were remanded to the Camden County Jail with bail set at $125,000 each.  Both men are in the United States illegally and face deportation.  ICE agents will be filing immigration detainers on both suspects.

Concerned residents alerted law enforcement to a possible house of prostitution operating at 127 North 25th Street in the city’s Dudley section.  Authorities conducted several weeks of surveillance at the residence and executed a search warrant at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Authorities also discovered two New York City women in their 40s who acknowledged being employed as prostitutes at the house.  The women were not charged in this investigation.  They were provided assistance and services from the Dreamcatcher Foundation, a nonprofit that helps victims of human trafficking and prostitution.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.