Two women were arrested after investigators said a California job seeker was trapped in a Lake Worth Beach brothel.
LAKE WORTH BEACH, FL — A California woman who answered a housekeeping ad was flown to Florida, stripped of her documents and forced into commercial sex at a Lake Worth Beach home, according to Palm Beach County sheriff’s investigators.
The case has led to human trafficking and prostitution-related charges against Diana Katherine Chaparro Contreras, 33, and Sandra Luz Peralta Aguilar, 50. Detectives said the woman had expected a cleaning job that offered $35 an hour, housing and transportation. Instead, investigators said, she was taken to a house where her passport and U.S. work permit were seized.
The woman, who was originally from San Bernardino, told investigators she responded to an Indeed ad before the suspects paid for her flight and arranged an Uber ride to 1115 S. M Street in Lake Worth Beach on Feb. 17. At the house, she said, she met Chaparro Contreras, who introduced herself as “Karen,” Peralta Aguilar and an unidentified man known as “Negro” or “Moreno.” The woman told detectives the group told her the job was not cleaning houses. It was having sex with clients. She said she was not allowed to leave and was forced to have sex with at least seven men in one day while at least one suspect watched clients come and go.
The probable cause affidavit described a house secured in ways investigators said helped keep the woman trapped. Detectives said the doors were secured from the outside with a chain and a security gate, while the bedroom windows were covered with plywood. The woman told investigators many clients were violent, refused to use protection and abused or choked her. When she pleaded for mercy, she said, her traffickers threatened her with deportation. One morning, investigators said, she escaped by using a lamp to break through plywood covering a window and climbing out. She also told detectives another girl was in the home and may have been as young as 15.
After her escape, the woman later identified Chaparro Contreras from a photo lineup as the person she knew as “Karen,” according to investigators. Detectives then watched the M Street home for weeks and reported seeing a steady flow of men arriving and leaving shortly afterward with nothing in their hands. Investigators used utility records and rental documents to link Chaparro Contreras to the house. They later connected Peralta Aguilar to the operation through more surveillance and records. Detectives said the operation later moved to another home at 332 S. F Street in Lake Worth Beach, though the affidavit did not state whether the move happened because suspects knew they were being watched.
Two men stopped by law enforcement after leaving the properties told detectives they paid for sex inside the homes, according to the affidavit. One man said he paid an older woman $60 for a token or chip, which he then gave to a woman in exchange for sex. Another man said two women were working inside the second location and that a male security guard collected the money. Investigators also reviewed financial records and said Chaparro Contreras received or deposited about $116,373.70 since March 2025, including nearly $61,000 in cash deposits.
Both women were arrested Friday and booked on counts that include human trafficking, profiting from or arranging prostitution, and operating or allowing a location to be used for prostitution. The affidavit also pointed to an earlier Palm Beach County sheriff’s report from 2022, when investigators conducting surveillance of a suspected brothel stopped a white pickup truck and found Chaparro Contreras riding with one of two brothers from Guatemala who were arrested last year. Investigators said the wider network continued after those arrests and that associates kept the business running.
Authorities have not publicly identified the woman who escaped, and the unidentified man known by nicknames had not been named in the available court account. Investigators also had not confirmed the age or status of the other girl the woman said she saw inside the home. The case now moves through the court system as detectives continue to examine records, surveillance and the alleged movement between the two Lake Worth Beach properties.
Author note: Last updated Wednesday, June 24, 2026.