Westfield Prostitution Investigation Leads to Arrest of 2
WESTFIELD, Ind. — On Tuesday, the Westfield Police Department Special Investigations Unit started investigating a suspected prostitution activity being conducted from a Westfield home.
The home was on Beechwood Drive, near Westfield High School. Investigators discovered that several men were visiting the home after arranging to pay for sexual acts, and they also spotted a man acting as a lookout or receptionist to check in the visitors.
By Wednesday evening, investigators obtained a search warrant for the home. After another man arrived at the home Thursday afternoon, detectives and federal agents moved in to execute the warrant. While that visitor left the home, the two people running the operation stayed inside and refused to come out. Eventually, a man and a woman stepped outside.
Police identified the suspects as Chaopeng Chen and QingPing Chen, who had used a short-term rental platform to lease the house specifically for their illegal business. Inside the home, investigators uncovered and seized more than $7,500 in cash, cocaine, and various other pieces of evidence tied directly to prostitution.
Chaopeng Chen was arrested and charged with promoting prostitution and possession of cocaine, while QingPing Chen faces a charge of Class A misdemeanor prostitution.
Additionally, prosecutors have been asked to charge Jose Perez, who was at the house when police arrived, with making an unlawful proposition, which is also a Class A misdemeanor.
