Milwaukee human trafficking case; detective shares victim account
Milwaukee human trafficking case; detective shares victim account
Austin Chronister is accused of holding women captive as sex slaves.
MILWAUKEE - Austin Chronister is accused of holding women captive as sex slaves. Now, for the first time, we are hearing directly from one of his accusers.
Chronister in court
What we know:
One of the reported victims in the case against Chronister spoke in court on Monday, May 12, as a judge weighed what bond amount to set in the latest case against him.
Austin Chronister
"The amount of money isn’t the point, but the amount of money put forth was borne on the backs of his victims and he shouldn’t be allowed to continue to profit from our losses," one of the reported victims said in court.
Prosecutors filed more charges against Chronister last week. It was related to an investigation into what happened at a State Street home.
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"My investigation revealed that it was a BDSM society," said Milwaukee Police Det. Michael Walker.
Austin Chronister
A detective took the stand accusing Chronister of human trafficking and sexual assault of one woman, strangling and hurting another, and one additional count of human trafficking against a third victim.
The detective testified one woman said she met Chronister on a fetish website – and said she was subjected to punishment sex.
Another woman said she was sexually assaulted.
What they're saying:
"She described screaming, loud enough for other people in the house to hear. And Mr. Chronister telling her -- basically -- to deal with it," Det. Walker said.
The woman said through work, she met Chronister and his partner and co-owner of the house, Attorney Christin Saint Pierre. Saint Pierre is not charged in connection to the case.
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Austin Chronister
Chronister was bound over for trial. The judge set an additional $10,000 bond.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access, the criminal complaint associated with this case and FOX6 News reporting.