Mueller allegedly told police that his escorts saw an average of five clients per day, with a typical session lasting one hour
So what about the two men, Durnal and Mueller, whom KIRO 7 called sex-trafficking ringleaders who escort sites Little Rock AR “sold women all over the country?” Nowhere in official court documents do police allege this; at most, Mueller and Durnal are accused of exploiting Korean sex workers-a.k.a. “K-Girls”-within the Seattle area.
But even the case for that is flimsy. Despite initially labeling both men “human traffickers,” police present no substantial evidence in charging documents that local K-Girls were captive or unwilling. By all accounts, these women flew to Seattle voluntarily and without chaperones, usually from other U. The K-Girls were, in essence, independent contractors.
“It is reasonable for women to choose sex work in the US instead of sex work in Korea,” wrote Seattle resident Christina Slater, who describes herself as an “erotic service provider,” in an April blog post about the Review Board bust. “I know that if those were my options…and if I spoke little to no English I would need assistance in finding a work place, scheduling clients, etc.”
The men-both prolific sex buyers themselves-weren’t violent or abusive
This is the main criminal activity alleged of Mueller and Durnal: providing K-girls with live-work space, posting online ads for them, and screening and booking their clients. Mueller called his enterprise “Asian Haven,” while Durnal ran “K-Dynasty.” Both operated out of rentals in high-end apartment complexes in downtown Bellevue. The men paid the rent and utilities on these spaces and stocked them with furniture and supplies, such as mouthwash and condoms, but did not live there. Visiting K-girls each got their own bedroom and private bathroom. In exchange for the room, advertising, and administrative work, Mueller or Durnal received $100 for each $300-an-hour “date” a woman completed.
Doesn’t that make Mueller and Durnal “pimps”? Yes, in the sense that the definition of a pimp is anyone who helps manage business for a sex worker or makes money off of prostitution.
But Mueller and Durnal don’t conform to pimp stereotypes. They didn’t have sex with the women they booked, provide them with drugs, try to keep them dependent, or try to keep them from leaving (in fact, their business model depended on women coming and going relatively quickly). They provided a service and took a fee, leaving the K-Girls with whom they worked with a personal profit of hundreds of dollars per day.
Of course, being paid doesn’t, on its own, preclude being exploited. What about the claims that the K-Girls were forced to work 12 to 14 hours daily?
The only evidence in police documents to support these statements is TRB advertisements that list escorts’ appointment availability. Some ads did indeed indicate availability windows stretching 10 to 12 hours. But being available during those hours doesn’t mean the women were actually working for all or even most of them.
It’s similarly unclear on what basis police allege that K-Girls were trapped in the area or in their apartments. Probable cause documents for Mueller and Durnal offer nothing to support this accusation. A case summary for Mueller states that “Donald’s sex workers typically travel via airplane to work at his brothels. His sex employees pay their own travel expense to get to Seattle. [They] fly in from different cities such as New York, Boston, or L.A.” The summary also details an email between Mueller and a woman named “Ann” who claims to live out of the country.
Within the plans, the pair discuss how to get Ann to the U.S. legally so they [can] go into business together. Ann mentions that she will pay Donald to “Make appointments with customers.’ Donald agrees to do some background work into the process and … explains that he will contact an immigration attorney he knows to assist.
