FBI agents collect evidence from a home in Minneapolis

August 12, 1999
Web posted at: 8:55 p.m. EDT (0055 GMT)

ST. LOUIS (CNN) -- A multistate prostitution ring that used girls as young as 14 -- often disciplining them through beatings, torture, rape and attempted murder -- has been busted, federal and local officials said Thursday.

The 15 alleged operators of the prostitution ring, including 12 people spanning three generations from the same Minnesota family, were charged with various counts of interstate prostitution, money laundering and conspiracy.

Eight people have been arrested, while the other seven remain at large.

Fifty females were lured into the operation, including 27 minors, the youngest of which were 14-year-old girls, officials said. The operators "used acts and threats of violence to discourage the females from leaving the 'family,'" according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges the females serviced three to 10 clients per day, seven days a week.

"This case is about the sexual exploitation of children. It's about part of our society that most don't see and many do not want to acknowledge," said Neil Kurlander, police chief of Maryland Heights, Missouri, in suburban St. Louis, where the ring was allegedly very active.

"As one 15-year-old prostitute told one of the investigators, 'I'd rather be dead than doing what I'm doing,'" he said.

FBI Special Agent Bill Eubanks said the girls often were "controlled and disciplined through beatings, torture, rape and attempted murder."

Investigation began with traffic stop

He said the prostitution ring -- which spanned more than 20 states -- was started in 1982 by the Minneapolis-based Evans family, with the girls placed in massage parlors and escort services in several cities, where they would then operate out of motels.

Two of the underage girls were stopped for a traffic violation in suburban St. Louis three years ago and were found with fake identification and a list of their clients.

That led to the investigation and the 44-count grand jury indictment returned in St. Louis last month.

"This case is significant because of a number of members of one family engaged in the operations," said Kurlander.

Arrests were made in Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois and Tennessee.

Eubanks said if the defendants are convicted, they each could face between five and 20 years in prison and fines ranging between $25,000 and $500,000.

They also would have to forfeit six luxury vehicles, five real estate properties and $1 million, all part of the proceeds the prostitution ring netted.