POLICE have shut down another illegal brothel in Ballarat, the fourth raided in as many months.
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Two people were arrested when members from Ballarat’s Divisional Response Unit executed a warrant at a unit in Christine Avenue in Alfredton recently.
A mobile phone, note book and newspaper advertisement were seized during the raid.
A 40-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man were then interviewed by police.
The woman was released and is expected to be charged on summons in relation to the operation of an illegal brothel.
The man was also released and expected to be charged on summons in relation to living off the earnings of a sex worker.
The Alfredton raid was the latest in a series of Ballarat brothels closed down this year.
A home in Wendouree was raided by police in May, with a 44-year-old woman charged with living off the earnings of a sex worker.
Days later a Sebastopol home, believed to be harbouring illegal sex workers, was also raided.
During the same period, a man was interviewed by police in relation to a property near the Ballarat Airport, which had been acting as an illegal brothel.
The city’s only legal brothel, Breathless Encounter in Delacombe, was closed in 2006.
At the time of the 2006 closure, the Australian Family Association warned illegal brothels could flourish as a result, claiming that it was “likely” below-the-radar brothels would operate within Ballarat.
The woman charged following the Wendouree raid will appear at the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday.