Over 50 men, including youth coaches, charged in Erie prostitution bust
ERIE (TNS) — More than 50 people, including at least three youth coaches, have been charged with paying for sex at a Pennsylvania fitness center.
Also charged are the owner, two of her children and a son-in-law, according to state Attorney General Dave Sunday.
In a statement, Sunday said 52 people are charged with paying for sex at the Totally You Fitness Spa in Erie.
The charges stem from a grand jury investigation, he said.
“This proposed fitness center was actually a highly organized commercial sex-selling operation with employees who were targeted due to their vulnerabilities and trained not to disclose the full nature of the business and their income,” Sunday said.
Sunday said the owner recruited workers who were homeless or addicted.
“This despicable behavior has no place in the Commonwealth, and I commend the grand jurors, our Human Trafficking Section, and our law enforcement partners for shutting down this criminal enterprise,” he said.
Owner Tina Silveus, her son Keyvon Silveus and daughter Corinne Wilcott, and her son-in-law Roscoe Carroll Sr. each face 23 charges, including multiple counts of corrupt organizations, promoting prostitution and conspiracy.
Court records show that Tina Silveus, 61, was released from jail after posting a $45,000 bond while her son posted a $50,000 bond. Wilcott was still being held in jail after failing to post a $50,000 bond and Carroll was released on a $50,000 bond.
All four have preliminary hearings scheduled for July 24.
Among the 52 people charged for purchasing sex are three youth coaches and one attorney, reported YourErie.com.
Those charged include Jason Locke, 49, the president of a wrestling club in North East, as well as Corey Wolff, 40, a North East soccer coach and former YMCA employee.
The wrestling club did not respond to YourErie.com and the YMCA declined to comment.
Michael Schrecengost, 64, a softball coach in Union City, was also charged, as was 77-year-old Erie attorney Michale Fetzner, the website reported.
The Union City School District said the district is aware of the allegations against Schrecengost and is “closely monitoring the legal proceedings and findings,” YourErie.com reported.
Online court records show that all four men are charged with patronizing prostitutes and criminal solicitation, both misdemeanors, from incidents in 2020.
They were charged by summons.
Wolff and Schrecengost have preliminary hearings scheduled for Aug. 13 while Locke and Fetzner have hearings scheduled for Aug. 14.
Sunday said that dating back to 2016 Silveus employed about 20 to 30 people as sex workers “under the guise” of being massage therapists.
Investigators determined that none of the employees were licensed massage therapists and, instead, were referred to by stage names and told not to report their income. Condoms and a logbook of customers were found during a search of the spa, Sunday said.