Couple ran intercourse slave empire with 20-hour brothels shopping for them Porsches and Audis
Wieslaw Michniewicz and Aleksandra Timoszek enticed young women to the UK with the promise of legitimate work, but as soon as they arrived, they were put to work as prostitutes in horrid conditions
Wieslaw Michniewicz was seen handling operations of the sex slave empire with his wife(Image: West Yorkshire Police / SWNS)
A couple who trafficked women from Europe and coerced them into being “sex slaves” splashed the money made on the operation on a “lavish lifestyle”. This included buying a large house and cruising around in luxury motors.
Polish nationals Wieslaw Michniewicz, 53, and his wife, Aleksandra Timoszek, 32, from Leeds, lured young women to the UK with promises of legal work. However, once the girls arrived in the UK, they were shut off from the outside and forced into sex work, all while paying Wieslaw and Aleksandra the money they earned.
Michniewicz and Timoszek preyed upon vulnerable women to sell into prostitution, mainly from Poland, Leeds Crown Court heard. Now, the pair have been jailed for a total of over 22 years, alongside their accomplices.
The victims were told they would earn jobs as childminders or staff in local pubs and shops. But as soon as they touched down in the UK, the women were told they owed a debt which needed settling and were forced into prostitution.
The youngest victim was brought to Britain aged 17 and was put to work in a brothel the day after her 18th birthday. The women were made to work up to 20 hours daily, seven days a week providing sexual services.
Every penny they earned went straight to the couple, who enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle on the proceeds, driving around in sports cars, the court was told. Michniewicz’s cousin, Mariusz Seretny, and wife, Marta Seretny, were also discovered to have played a role in pimping the women out.
After a decade-long “complex and painstaking investigation” by specialist officers at West Yorkshire Police, authorities arrested the pair at their residence on September 14, 2016, on suspicion of offences relating to modern slavery.
Multiple women were discovered at the property, alongside three high-end sports vehicles. The cars were confiscated from the pair, alongside £16,000 in cash that was found on the premises.
Roughly £170,000 is believed to have been made by the women who had been trafficked, according to handwritten documents from the pair. The ledgers also had a complete breakdown of the substantial “debts” owed by each victim, including the costs of reservations and travel, including ferries and flights.
Three defendants were found guilty of modern slavery and controlling prostitution offences and jailed for a total of 27 and a half years between them at Leeds Crown Court on Friday (January 23). The fourth was given a community order, but avoided a jail sentence.
Officers would go on to identify 14 victims trafficked at the hands of Wieslaw and Aleksandra, ranging in age from 17 to 31. Women deemed unsuitable upon reaching the UK were returned to Poland, whilst another had grown suspicious of what was going on and backed out of making the journey to the UK.
The quartet faced modern slavery and controlling prostitution charges in February 2023, though both Michniewicz and Timoszek had fled the country. Officers, working with Polish authorities, eventually tracked down the duo and had them extradited back to the UK, where they were held on remand until their trial, which ended with a unanimous guilty verdict by a jury in December.
Michniewicz, Timoszek and Mariusz Seretny were each convicted of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person with a view to exploitation; conspiracy to incite another person to become a prostitute for gain; conspiracy to control prostitution for gain; and two counts of controlling prostitution for gain in relation to two individual victims.
Marta Seretny was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to control prostitution for gain.
Michniewicz was sentenced to 15 years’ jail, with Timoszek, given a term of seven-and-a-half years.
Mariusz Seretny, 45, was jailed for five years and 41-year-old Marta Seretny was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and five rehabilitation days.
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