Massage parlor owner charged with trafficking children

A Mount Prospect massage parlor owner already accused of extorting and branding his employees now has been charged with sex trafficking of children by force, among other allegations, according to a new federal indictment Thursday.

Alex A. Campbell of Glenview is accused of forcing numerous women to work at Day and Night Spa, 940 E. Northwest Hwy., in Mount Prospect, extorting their earnings, forcing them to engage in commercial sex acts and harboring them for commercial advantage, according to court records.

Campbell was originally arrested in January and charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion after he offered to help an employee with her immigration status if she paid him $13,000, authorities said.

He also forced her to engage in sexual activity with another worker, which he recorded on his cell phone, according to the original complaint.

On Thursday, a further indictment charged Campbell with sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion; harboring aliens; and concealing his workers' passports or other government identity with the intent forced labor, according to the charges.

One victim claimed Campbell forced spa workers to tattoo a horseshoe and the numbers 9-17 (reportedly his birthday) on their bodies, according to authorities.

Danielle John of Des Plaines, who worked with Campbell, said in federal court in November that she helped him conceal the women's illegal status, thus setting up her testimony in the upcoming trial against Campbell.

The U.S. attorney's office filed a motion for a protective order in October to protect some workers who are expected to testify against Campbell. A charge in the indictment claims Campbell “beat one witness with a pool cue” and “also threatened to inflict severe harm upon, and even murder, some of the women.”

Campbell is being held is federal custody without bond.