Two women were charged with prostitution violations by Sandy Springs Police after allegedly running a massage business inside a Roswell Road apartment.
Police cited Sarah Talamonti-Peyton, 23, of Smyrna, and Natalia Pivovarova, 26, of Marietta, on Feb. 21 for keeping a “house of ill fame” following an investigation at the Square One Apartments at 6050 Roswell Road. They are set to appear in Sandy Springs Municipal Court on April 16.
A person who answered the phone at Square One Apartments said management had no comment.
According to the police report, Talamonti-Peyton said the apartment was leased by a Buckhead resident who ran the massage business. She told an officer that “she was scared to return to the apartment since the apartment was bugged with audio and visual cameras that send a live feed back to the owner of the business,” according to the police report.
The report says that police discovered three alarm clocks that were fitted with digital cameras.
According to the police report, officers went to the apartment after receiving a prostitution complaint. After knocking on the door of the apartment, officers said they heard a back door sliding open. An officer went to the back of the building and found a woman hanging from a window, who then dropped into some bushes in a dog park.
The woman, later identified as Talamonti-Peyton, said she was being held hostage by her boyfriend in the apartment, and when asked for identification, took off running toward Sandy Spring Place, according to the police report. The officer was able to detain her, and she then said she was a massage therapist, not a hostage, according to the report.
Pivovarova was found by police inside the apartment. She and Talamonti-Peyton were cited and released at the scene. A man who was in the apartment for a massage was released by police and faces no charges.
A search of the apartment found several massage beds, oils, towels, candles, lockers and women’s underwear, according to a police report. Police also found a list of clients and credit card receipts.
So these women who quite likely were victims of trafficking are arrested, charged, and publicly shamed… while those who were forcing them into this situation are punished how, exactly?