House arrest for operator of three city bawdy houses

The man arrested at an April development appeal board hearing into a proposed massage parlour has been sentenced to house arrest after pleading guilty to keeping three bawdy houses and living on the avails of prostitution.

According to an agreed statement of facts, 55-year-old Simon Shum was connected to three bawdy houses set up in central-Edmonton apartment suites from May to November 2012.

In court, Shum admitted he posted online advertisements for prostitution, communicated with johns over text messages and ensured the various bawdy houses were well-stocked with food and supplies.

In June 2012, an undercover police officer called a phone number listed on an online advertisement and was invited to a 122nd Street apartment for sex. The officer arrived, negotiated the price of sex and then left.

Two weeks of surveillance footage of the apartment showed 77 suspect johns entering the suite. On the videos, Shum can be seen periodically bringing woman and groceries to the apartment.

Police searched the suite in July and found drugs, cash and a form that set prices and services. They also found more than 3,000 condoms. Shum arrived at the suite while police were conducting the search. Four women working in the suite all claimed to not speak English.

That same day, police went to a 121st Street suite leased to Shum for two months. There, the door was answered by two naked women, one of whom was a Hong Kong resident.

From October to November 2012, Shum was connected to a third bawdy house in a 109th Avenue suite. Again, a police office posed as a customer to negotiate a price. He was quoted a price of $150 per half-hour.

When officers searched the suite, they found two women. One of them was a refugee from North Korea.

In March 2013, that same refugee walked into the southwest division of the Edmonton Police Service and said she wanted out of the sex-trade industry. She told investigators she was brought to Edmonton from Toronto in March 2012. She was escorted on various trips between the two cities over the next year and Shum always picked her up from the Edmonton airport, she said.

While in Edmonton, she worked out of a room in the Gateway Motel and Shum assisted her. He posted online advertising for her and drove her to meet johns. The woman paid Shum at least $900 for his services.

Shum was sentenced to 23 months of house arrest and will be on probation for a year after that.

Shum was arrested at City Hall on April 4 while waiting for the start of a Subdivision and Development Appeal Board hearing into the application for an 118th Avenue massage parlour. He was present to translate for the applicant.