The wife of a Boca Raton cop was one of two women arrested
in connection with a local prostitution ring, authorities said Wednesday.
The officer, Samuel McCoy, is the husband of Denise McCoy,
34, who was charged along with Sara Marin, 42, in a prostitution and
money-laundering scheme. Boca Police Chief Dan Alexander said Wednesday that
Samuel McCoy has been put on paid administrative leave.
"It's very early [in the investigation],"
Alexander said.
Samuel McCoy, 31, was suspended twice in 2011. In April, he
was suspended for 36 hours for taking pictures of his genital area while on
duty. McCoy said he had a medical condition that he needed to document. He said
he never sent the photos to anyone and they were deleted.
In July 2011, he was suspended for 84 hours for looking at
pornography on his city-issued computer. He said he was looking for jujitsu
videos online and clicked on other links that "piqued my interest."
That investigation began after a city official found out
that Samuel McCoy was part of an adult social networking site for swingers.
McCoy's wife was arrested after a Brazilian woman helped
police unearth the local prostitution ring.
According to Boca Raton Police, the woman told immigration
agents that she had been forced into a life of prostitution for nine months.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the woman said she met Marin, 42, of
Boynton Beach, who offered her a job with her escort service and said no sex
was involved.
The woman ultimately called Marin and her Brazilian partner,
Denise McCoy, of Boca Raton, to start working. After several lunch and dinner
dates where there was no sex expected, the woman told police Denise McCoy drove
her to an apartment in Boca Raton to meet a date.
That date said he expected sex, so the woman refused and
called Denise McCoy, who threatened to have the woman jailed as an illegal
immigrant if she didn't comply.
The woman told police Denise McCoy and Marin advertised
several girls using Backpage.com, an online classified website where there are
few restrictions on advertised services, and arranged for them to have sex with
johns at apartments at 22312 Calibre Court and 22042 Boca Place Drive in two
shifts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The prostitutes collected $200 per hour plus tips, and split
the cash evenly with McCoy and Marin, according to the affidavit. The woman
told police she worked six days per week, having sex with anywhere from 6 to 12
men per day.
Police later found Marin had registered her escort business
with the state of Florida, based at one of the apartments under the name Sara's
Entertainment Service LLC.
Police set up
surveillance at both apartments over several months and report seeing women
entering the apartments for long periods, followed by a stream of men who spent
10 minutes to 1 hour each inside.
The women were seen handing something to Denise McCoy, who
then drove to a Bank of America ATM, or to a Boynton Beach home where police
say Marin lived. They stopped several johns who confirmed they paid for sex
acts in the apartments.
In one undercover operation, a Boca Raton Police investigator
paid $200 and McCoy masturbated for 10 to 15 minutes. In another, a sergeant
paid $150 for oral sex and intercourse with Marin, but created a
"ruse" in order to leave. When Boca police subpoenaed bank records
for Denise McCoy, they found 62 cash deposits totaling $29,640.38 between March
and November 2012. Marin's bank records for three accounts showed deposits
totaling $40,779, $36,940, $35,885 and $11,723 between January and September
2012, with some of the money apparently moving between Marin's accounts.
Denise McCoy and Marin were jailed Tuesday evening on
pimping and money laundering charges, and remained in the Palm Beach County
Jail without bail late Wednesday.