MILWAUKEE — An alleged sex slave operation has been uncovered in Milwaukee’s Concordia neighborhood.
Inside the home at 3022 West State Street, 38-year-old Austin Chronister is alleged to have held multiple women against their will, requiring them to sign a contract and wear a collar at all times.
According to a criminal complaint, a contract allegedly included multiple rules for the women living there, including obedience, the wearing of the collar, and reporting in. The victims told investigators there would be consequences for not following the rules, including physical violence.
At least one woman was told by Chronister, also known as “Rocky”, that she must change her last name to Saint Pierre, and that he threatened to inject her with a substance that would be harmful to her. Chronister’s wife was also living inside the home.
Chronister would throw BDSM parties at the house for his friends and family, according to an interview between one victim and a Milwaukee Police investigator.
The complaint notes the women inside the home all had the same tattoo of a beetle holding a poppy flower and were assigned slave numbers.
A victim told investigators another woman would keep her birth certificate and social security card in a safe that only Saint Pierre had access to.
One of the victims was able to leave the house after reporting in November of 2020.
Online records indicate Chronister was a broker with Mahler Sotheby’s International Realty, though as of Friday his profile was removed from the brokerage’s website.
Chronister is charged with felony human trafficking, second degree sexual assault, and false imprisonment. He is in custody as of Friday morning, but bail has not been set.
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