Fourth accused St. Charles sex trafficker pleads guilty

The fourth person of five charged with sex trafficking at a St. Charles hotel in 2023 agreed to a five and a half-year prison term today.

Daniel Hurtado, 27, of Elgin, pleaded guilty to one count of felony trafficking in persons.

Hurtado had been charged with 11 counts of involuntary servitude, four counts of promoting prostitution and one count of trafficking in persons, all felonies. Circuit Court Judge David Kliment accepted the plea agreement.

St. Charles police led the probe, which broke up a human trafficking syndicate. This included the rescue of seven women who were being sex trafficked in brothels that were not only located in an west side apartment in St. Charles, but also in South Elgin, Elgin, Hanover Park, Palatine and Chicago.

Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Dore described the horrors the sex-trafficked women endured. One had asked not to work because she had recently had surgery, but was told “her family and children were threatened if she did not work that week.”

House rules required them to work 12 hours per day and they were not allowed to move or take longer than a 15-minute break. They were not allowed to leave without permission or with one of the designated drivers, Dore said.

“Many described large debts – money they were told they owed – and that they participated in the commercial sexual trade in order to pay off their debt,” Dore said.

Kliment told Hutado he would receive credit for 620 days served in the Kane County jail, and receive 50% for good time credit in prison, concurrent with another case in Cook County.

This means Hurtado would serve just under two years in prison.

Kliment said Hurtado would also have to pay $5,114 in restitution in $255 per month, and 12 months of mandatory supervision upon his release from prison.

Dore said if the case had gone to trial, evidence would show that Hurtado engaged in trafficking in persons on Feb. 17, 2023 and on July 19, 2023, knowing that the persons involved would be subjected to involuntary servitude.

“Further evidence will show that in February of 2023, police officers in the South Elgin and St. Charles police departments were informed that apartments in their respective cities were where commercial sexual activity was actually occurring,” Dore said.

Charging documents listed apartments he used in Kane County were in the 100 block of North 15th Street in St. Charles; the 500 block of Ashland Avenue, Aurora; the 300 block of Ann Street, South Elgin; and the 1400 block of Abbot Street, Elgin.

The police investigation also revealed that women were brought into the St. Charles apartment every Sunday, Dore said, and advertised as available for sexual activity on Mondays through the private messaging system WhatsApp.

Dore said the women were identified by their nationality and age.

“Buyers would provide a phone number,” he said. “If approved, they would arrive at the apartment and needed to present themselves to a Ring (doorbell) camera for identification.”

Witnesses identified Hurtado as handing out business cards with the St. Charles apartment phone number and setting up the commercial sexual activity, Dore said.

Bank records showed Hurtado paid rent and utilities for the apartment and was seen to be making deposits after visiting the various locations, Dore said.

Hurtado visited the St. Charles location once per week, he said.

On July 19, 2023, police departments and the Department of Homeland Security coordinated serving search warrants on all the alleged brothel locations.

“Officers located ledgers, hidden cameras and envelopes containing money and victims’ names,” Dore said. “This defendant had many text messages on his phone which then implicated him in the human trafficking enterprise. One such text message stated that he sold cannabis and women but that the women were much more profitable.”

The St. Charles location opened September 2021 and Hurtado had trafficked hundreds of victims through all the locations, Dore said.

Three others involved already pleaded guilty in negotiated agreements with prosecutors: Martha P. Hurtado-Hernandez, 58, of Chicago; Rigoberto Parra, 47, of Aurora and Christian Hurtado, 28, of Elgin.

Like Daniel Hurtado, all pleaded guilty to one felony count of trafficking in persons in exchange for the other charges not to be prosecuted.

Hurtado-Hernandez agreed to serve seven years in prison; Parra and Christian Hurtado agreed to serve five years in prison, records show.

The most serious charge they all faced was one of the involuntary servitude charges, a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison. Each pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge of involuntary servitude.

The seven women rescued were all from South America, ranging in age from their early 20s to early 30s, officials had said then.

The criminal case against Hector Briseno, 58, of Chicago, is still pending with a court date of April 2.

On March 17, State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced a new unit to investigate sex and labor trafficking.