The U.S. Justice Department has accused a Canton Township man of threatening to evict his female tenants unless they had sex with him.

The department filed a civil complaint in federal court in Detroit against William Asper, officials announced Tuesday.

"A man who preys on vulnerable women in need of a home deserves the greatest condemnation," Jerome Gorgon, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement. "We will do our best to protect women against gross exploitation."

In the complaint, federal prosecutors said Asper discriminated against his female tenants and violated the federal Fair Housing Act beginning in 2018 and through the present. The Justice Department is seeking a jury trial for damages to be awarded to each of his alleged victims, the filing said.

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