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Rebekah “Bekah” Charleston had an eerie feeling when she walked inside the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in western Nevada.
“While the TV show ‘Cathouse’ might’ve made it look glamorous on the side when you drive out, it’s a double-wide trailer in the middle of nowhere. It’s a literal compound you’re entering into,” the former sex trafficking victim told Fox News Digital.
“It was strange. No one was allowed to have a car there,” she said. “Nobody ever left their workplace. We were forced to sleep in the same rooms where we were serving customers all day long. We’d get to change the sheets, but then we would sleep in those same rooms. That’s not a job like any other.”
Bekah Charleston said she had to work at the Love Ranch before she could be moved to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“The house takes 50% of your money off the top, no matter what,” she added. “The harsh reality is that you’re automatically getting half of whatever it is that you’re charging customers and having to do all the sexual services for. And then you’re charged with room and board, food and supplies.
“Everybody has their hands on your 50%. … I know some people who have worked there who have bragged about making a million dollars in a year. Well, that’s automatically $500,000. And then out of that, there are 12 months of room and board, 12 months of supplies and other things. It winds up being a lot less than advertised.”
The Moonlite Bunny Ranch was previously the subject of an HBO reality TV series “Cathouse.” (Stephan Gladieu/Getty Images)
While some of the ex-employees alleged in the docuseries that they’d experienced violence at the hands of customers, Charleston said she didn’t face similar encounters.
Dennis Hof was never charged with any crime of violence against women. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I’ve heard a lot of other stories – people that have died there, people that have nearly died there,” she said. “There are a lot more details coming out about that in the series. But, thankfully, I didn’t face violence at the hands of sex buyers.”
Charleston said she was eventually pulled out of the Bunny Ranch when her trafficker realized she wasn’t earning enough for him. She also described struggling to deposit enough money in the bank.
Leaving felt “liberating,” she said.
“In some ways, [being in prison] was a little bit of a vacation,” she said. “It was the first time I didn’t have people touching my body. … I got to eat three meals a day. I would sometimes get to sleep eight hours a night. … In some ways, it was a reprieve from the lifestyle that I had been lured and manipulated into.”
Bekah Charleston told Fox News Digital she was relieved to leave Nevada’s cathouses. (A&E)
When Charleston was released, she was determined to turn her life around. In 2013, she launched Bekah Speaks Out, which provides training and consulting services to law enforcement and community leaders. She earned degrees in criminal justice and criminology and filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Nevada over the legalized prostitution industry.
An aerial view of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel located in Northern Nevada once owned by Dennis Hof. (Getty Images)
Charleston also worked with senators to advocate for the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act, which “aims to provide victims the opportunity to vacate or expunge federal convictions resulting from their victimization.”
The White House took notice. Officials said Charleston is a victim of sex trafficking who was forced into prostitution, and she now volunteers to help victims. Her pardon by President Trump was also supported by a law enforcement agent who arrested her.
Britney Angel, a prostitute, is getting ready for a “date” at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. (Stephan Gladieu/Getty Images)
“I was shocked to get the pardon,” said Charleston. “I feel really blessed. … [But] those things still show up on my record. I still have to explain to people, ‘Hey, I do have a piece of paper that President Trump signed and says he forgives me.’
“I’m still fighting for full relief, which is the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act,” she said. “It’s up in Congress right now. … We’ve been trying to get this bill passed since 2016. If it were to go through, they would go back and redact the records, and it would be as if it never happened. That, to me, would be true justice. I [wouldn’t] have to explain myself any longer.”
Charleston hopes speaking out encourages others to come forward.
Bekah Charleston at the 2023 Nevada Sex Trafficking and Prostitution Summit. She now advocates for victims of sex trafficking. (IMAGN)
“It makes me sad to know how many girls, many young women, were sucked in, thinking, ‘I’m going to live this glamorous lifestyle. I’m going to have fun and have sex all day and make money,’” she said. “You’re a prisoner stuck on the property, it’s not always going to be fun and you don’t really make that much money.. … I’m excited about what I get to do today and help other people.”
“Secrets of the Bunny Ranch” premieres June 12 at 9 p.m. The Associated Press contributed to this report.