Lyon County increasing enforcement at brothels

YERINGTON — The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office is stepping up its enforcement at four legal brothels in the county after an audit found weaknesses and gaps in its ability to detect human trafficking.

The audit released Thursday after a four-month investigation uncovered several indicators that foreign and domestic human trafficking could be occurring at the brothels that were owned by Dennis Hof, who died on Tuesday.

The audit says the work cards obtained by 30 percent of the sex workers at the brothels should have been subject to follow-up investigations by detectives to determine if they were being trafficked.

The red flags included 19 workers with prior prostitution convictions and 25 with dual licenses in other counties.

Sheriff Al McNeil says they plan to enhance information technology, training and resources to better detect possible trafficking.