A Cedar City, Utah man who admitted transporting his fiancé to massage parlors to perform sex acts for pay was sentenced in Kingman on Tuesday, July 16. 41-year-old Stephen Hansen previously entered a plea agreement convicting him of the reduced charge of attempted pandering.
Hansen is among eight people who were arrested in September, 2018 for various alleged involvements in human trafficking and prostitution at massage parlors operated in Lake Havasu, Bullhead City. Prosecutor Megan McCoy said Hansen was not a participant in the alleged enterprise that operated in Arizona, California and Utah and merely drove the fiancé who is now his wife to work as a prostitute, including at a business that was operated at 1960 Mesquite, Avenue in Lake Havasu.
“He was actually trying to get her out of the business of prostitution,” Legal Defender Ron Gilleo said. He said Hansen was scouting for a shop where Fang F. Chen, 45, could perform legitimate and legal massage services to be free of the sex trade.
Hansen’s plea deal protected him from serving any more than the two days he already spent in jail. Judge Billy Sipe placed him on supervised probation for two years.
The attempted pandering conviction will be designated a misdemeanor offense if Hansen successfully completes probation.
Trials are scheduled for a number of co-defendants, including one of the alleged ringleaders Amanda Yamauchi, 47. Yamauchi’s lawyer has lodged a motion for change of venue, contending extensive media coverage compromises her right to a fair trial in Mohave County.
