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Police investigate allegations of a prostitution ring in Norfolk

Posted at 9:22 PM, May 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-24 09:49:11-04

NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk police are investigating allegations of a prostitution ring at a home in the Berkley section of the city.

Keith Jarret

Police also executed a search warrant at a shipyard worker's house after allegations were made by two people who said they worked as prostitutes.

Keith Jarret is locked up and is being held without bond. He is accused raping and abducting a woman but he is not facing prostitution charges.

Police said the victim is a 39-year-old woman.

Back on May 12 police searched Jarret’s home as neighbors watched.

“It was an unreal scene,” said one neighbor who didn’t want to be identified, “It was night, it was in the evening time. There was a big truck about 30 officers.”

Court documents indicate police seized cameras, computers, a cell phone and several other items.

Records indicate a person came to police headquarters and made accusations that they worked as a prostitute out of the house where the search warrant was executed.

The person’s gender was not disclosed in the documents.

The person apparently told authorities they would help recruit “new girls”, looking for ones that were homeless or jobless and buy them dinner or clothing.

Records state the person told police some of the sexual encounters were recorded through hidden cameras in the house.

In the records the person said there were eight prostitutes involved and one was a juvenile.

But a neighbor told News 3 there is no way there was prostitution happening on her block.

“It's hard to believe. We saw no evidence of that in our day to day. This is a very quiet street,” said she, “It's so quiet you can hear the crickets, you can hear the birds and we just don't have that type of activity in this area.”

Jarret is not facing any charges related to prostitution or human trafficking but remains held without bond for the rape and abduction charges.

“You see him with his daughter. You see him with his lady friend and that's it. You don't see a parade of people going in and out of his home,” she said.

Keith Jarret denied an interview with News 3 from behind bars.