CRANBERRY TWP — The attorney for one of the women arrested on prostitution charges said he is concerned his client is a victim of human trafficking.

“I have concerns over whether she was acting voluntarily with what she is accused of, and I have concerns that she is being victimized,” said Ryan Helsel, a public defender representing Jinfeng Jiang. “I feel like there is someone who is controlling her.”

Jiang, 36, stands accused of charges including promoting prostitution following an arrest made as the result of a joint FBI and township police investigation.

On Friday, she and Chen-Sui Hong, 59, who faces identical charges, waived their preliminary hearings before Magistrate Judge David Kovach.

Jesse Chen, Hong's attorney, declined to comment. Chen said he defends women accused of similar crimes regularly.

Both women are from Flushing, N.Y., and police allege they found online advertisements on the same website offering sexual acts in exchange for money. In both instances, law enforcement set up meetings at township hotels through a third-party intermediary, according to Cranberry Detective Justin Hewitt's affidavits.

Police contacted those intermediaries, who used two phone numbers with New York City area codes. Those phone numbers called both women and an undercover officer multiple times after the women were arrested.

Police interviewed Hong through an interpreter, the affidavits state, at which time she said she responded to a newspaper ad in Flushing to perform massages and sexual acts in exchange for money. Hong added she had given her identification and passport “to a friend ... as she was told someone would steal it.”

In a phone call with the Eagle shortly after the arrests, Cranberry Police Sgt. Chuck Mascellino said law enforcement was investigating human trafficking in the area and the two women were apprehended as they engaged in prostitution. He referred all other questions to the FBI.

Catherine Policicchio, a spokeswoman at the FBI's Pittsburgh field office, said the bureau does not comment on investigations.

Jiang's bail, originally set at $100,000, was reduced to $75,000, matching Hong's. Both women remain in Butler County Prison in lieu of bail.