Senior Prostitution Ring Broken Up in NJ Senior Home, Residents Felt Like 'Prisoners'
Police in New Jersey arrested three people in connection with running a prostitution ring at a senior center while also finding controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.
The Vincente Tibbs Senior Citizen Building in Englewood, N.J. serves the needs of disabled and low-income residents who are 62 years and older. But the senior citizen housing complex in northern New Jersey was used to facilitate a prostitution ring as well as to sell narcotics.
Police revealed they arrested James Parham, 75, who admitted to providing prostitutes with crack cocaine. Another resident, 66-year-old Cheryl Chaney, was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia and maintaining a drug nuisance. Chaney faces several charges, including possession of crack cocaine.
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Police also charged the third suspect, 54-year-old Selma McDuffie, with possessing drug paraphernalia. McDuffie is a school crossing guard but has since been suspended from her school duties. She was also banned from visiting the senior housing complex.
Detective Capt. Timothy Torell did also state during a press conference that Parham admitted to providing prostitutes as well as narcotics to other residents in the senior housing complex.
The Englewood Housing Authority manages the 152-unit property and there was no private security guards patrolling the building due to lack of funds, which forced residents to contact police when they observed illicit behavior.
After receiving several complaints local police began patrolling the building regularly and were able to arrest the three suspects. Residents described being prisoners in their own building, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
Parham, who moved to the home in January 2012, is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court in Englewood on Wednesday, while Chaney, who has lived there since September 2010, and McDuffie are due in court June 11. Both Parham and Chaney are in the process of being evicted from the home, as reported by The Clarion-Ledger.
