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Police Targeted Suspected Prostitutes, Johns
Fulton County Police Cleaning Up Fulton Industrial Boulevard
By Tony McNary

CBS Atlanta went undercover with the Fulton County Police Department’s Special Operations Unit Friday night.

They were on a mission to clean up Fulton Industrial Boulevard’s reputation for being a haven for prostitution.

“After several years of being tired of this we’ve gotten a new approach. It’s going to be a sustained effort to continue doing this day in and day out,” said Captain Wade Yates.

An undercover officer posed as a “John” and picked up three women who police said offered him sex for money.

Another undercover officer posed as a prostitute. She was on the street less than five minutes before someone tried to solicit her.

Read more at Bloomberg.com…

Craigslist Not Responsible for Sex-For-Hire Ads, Judge Rules
By Andrew M. Harris

Craigslist won dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, that accused the classified ads Web site of creating a public nuisance by providing a forum for prostitution services.

U.S. District Judge John F. Grady in Chicago threw out the lawsuit filed by Sheriff Tom Dart, finding that the site was only a conduit for others to publish the ads and wasn’t legally responsible for their content.

“Sheriff Dart may continue to use Craigslist’s website to identify and pursue individuals who post allegedly unlawful content,” Grady said in a 20-page decision posted on the court’s electronic docket yesterday. “But he cannot sue Craigslist for their conduct.”

An interesting article about the online pay-for-sex scene. Read more at redOrbit.com…

Internet Fuels Virtual Subculture For Sex Trade

The Internet has spawned a virtual subculture of “johns” who share information electronically about prostitution, potentially making them harder to catch, according to a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University criminologist.

The research by MSU’s Thomas Holt and Kristie Blevins of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte challenges the common perception that sex customers act alone and do not interact for fear of reprisal or scorn. The study appears in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.

Holt, assistant professor of criminal justice, said today’s Web-savvy johns use the Internet to solicit prostitutes and to provide each other with warnings of prostitution hot zones and stings, which can hamper the efforts of law enforcement officials.

But the more police become familiar the johns’ Web activities, the more it can help them zero in on the perpetrators, Holt added.

“The growth of these deviant subcultures has made it more difficult for law enforcement,” said Holt, who has helped police devise prostitution stings. “On the other hand, it gives us a new opportunity to use the way the offenders communicate to better target their activities.”

The study analyzed prostitution Web forums in 10 U.S. cities with the highest rates of prostitution arrests: Atlanta; Baltimore; Chicago; Dayton, Ohio; Elizabeth, N.J.; Forth Worth, Texas; Hartford, Conn.; Inglewood, Calif.; Las Vegas; and Memphis, Tenn.

In the Web forums, the johns provide detailed information on the location of sexual services on the streets and indoors, as well as ways to identify specific providers, information on costs and personal experiences with providers.

The open nature of the forums led the johns to carefully disguise their discussions with a unique language, or argot, based largely on code and acronyms. This argot may help johns and sex workers to avoid legal sanctions and any social stigma associated with participating in the sex trade, the researchers said.

It’s best to have a convincing cover story when seeking the talents of a pro.  Read the whole story at ForsythNews.com…

Call girl, client caught at hotel
By Julie Arrington

A Stone Mountain woman who listed her occupation as “call girl” and her alleged client were arrested over the weekend at a local hotel.

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According to a sheriff’s report, authorities were called about 3:30 a.m. Saturday to the Holiday Inn Express on Buford Highway in response to a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot.

Deputies spoke with the driver, who said he had just dropped the woman off to visit a friend.

A hotel employee reported seeing the woman get out of the car and go to one of the rooms.

The investigating deputy went up to the room and noted that he could hear “muffled noises from inside.”

About five minutes later, a fully-clothed woman opened the door and a man, wearing only underwear, was walking around inside. Both looked surprised, the deputy wrote.

According to the report, the man first said the woman was a friend of about eight years who was visiting him at the hotel. Despite the length of their alleged friendship, the man didn’t know her last name.

Authorities observed that both beds in the room had been used and there were signs of sexual activity.

Upon further questioning, the man told the deputy he was separated from his wife and needed someone to talk to about his marital problems.

The woman, he said, was a college friend from Maryland.

The deputy questioned whether the friends actually had time to talk during the estimated 30 minutes they had been in the room.

The man later said he did not know the woman, whom he admitting having met through Exclusive Callgirls of Atlanta.

Another look at so-called John Schools, designed to change the mindset of the men who seek to pay for some TLC from women. Read the whole article at CNN.com…

‘John schools’ try to change attitudes about paid sex

The accused came from all walks of life: Retirees, dads and twentysomethings. An engineer, a business owner and an auto worker. A man in a wheelchair. Men in need of Spanish or Farsi translators.

About 40 men somberly entered a classroom on a recent Saturday morning. About half of them wore shiny wedding bands.

All had tried to buy a prostitute’s services and were caught by police. It was their first offense, and a county court referred them to a one-day program called the John School. It’s a program run by volunteers and city officials in conjunction with Magdalene House, a nonprofit that works to get prostitutes off the streets.

“Prostitution doesn’t discriminate,” said Kenny Baker, a cognitive behavioral therapist who is the program’s director. “Most of these men don’t have a prior criminal history, so our goal is to help these folks understand why they put themselves in a bad position, to prevent it from happening again.”

Set in a church in Nashville, Tennessee, the John School is led by former prostitutes, health experts, psychologists and law enforcement officers who talk to — and at times berate — the men about the risks of hiring a prostitute.

Prostitution is based on the law of supply and demand. The thinking is: Women won’t stop selling sex until men stop buying.

So Nashville and a growing number of cities are shifting their focus from locking up suppliers to educating buyers. Across the country, about 50 communities are using John Schools. Atlanta, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland, are among dozens more cities that plan to launch similar programs by the end of the year.

“It will make them [offenders] see that this is not a victimless crime, and they are contributing to the exploitation of women,” said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women’s issues at the mayor’s office in Atlanta. “It’s hurting them, the man, and it’s hurting their families and its hurting the community.”

Craigslist has closed it’s ‘erotic services’ section, after a bit of scrutiny from law enforcement. But it looks like the racy ads have migrated to the new ‘adult’ section. Progress? See what ABC News says…

Craigslist Clean-Up: Is it Really Working?
Conn. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal: ‘We’re Not Going Away’

It’s been nearly a month since Craigslist promised improvements to clean the Web site of prostitution and graphic images, and while attorney general watchdogs report some progress it still takes just seconds to find illegal activities advertised on the site.

ABCNews.com looked at advertisements in eight cities and almost immediately found posts that were both lewd and illegal in markets that included Hartford, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Salt Lake City and Columbia, S.C.

The ads have ranged from a lusty “Hey fellaz” with hourly rates to raunchy photos, and even an offer to trade drugs for sex.

“It’s very much a continuing battle,” Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told ABCNews.com. “So far, Craigslist has failed to do enough and that’s why we’re asking the questions.”

Craigslist, which told ABCNews.com that it was being unfairly targeted, was hit with a fresh round of questions on May 26 from the attorneys general of seven states, requesting more information about the site’s screening process and criteria for banning certain posts among other details.

The Web site has yet to respond to the AGs’ letter sent to Craigslist attorney Edward Wes, but Blumenthal said further action would be determined, in part, by the answers to those questions.

And its all downhill from here. Read the story at AJC.com…

Sugarloaf’s ‘Mansion Madam’ files for bankruptcy

So-called “Mansion Madam” Lisa Ann Taylor, the erstwhile stripper and former high-priced prostitute in Gwinnett County, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this week.

Taylor could not be reached immediately for comment. Her former attorney, Max Richardson confirmed the bankruptcy filing came from the former Penthouse model, who’s known onstage as “Melissa Wolf.”

Richardson represented Taylor two years ago against charges that she ran a brothel in one of metro Atlanta’s most exclusive neighborhoods, Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth.

Richardson is one of 10 creditors in Taylor’s bankruptcy filing. The document, filed Monday, states that she is between $500,000 and $1 million in debt.

Taylor, 44, pleaded guilty to prostitution and drug charges in October 2007. She was given seven year probation and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine in a year.

In an interview in January, Taylor said her deadline for paying that fine had been extended to March.

“I’ve been doing a lot of charity work for the community in hopes that … if I cannot pay the fine, maybe they’ll allow me to work it off in community service, ” she said.

Craigslist released some figures noting the dramatic decline in ads in its erotic services listings.  Read the whole story at CNET News…

Craigslist touts ’spectacular’ reduction in erotic ads
by Steven Musil

Craigslist released numbers Monday it touted as evidence of its success in reducing the volume of “erotic services” ads appearing on the Web classified site in an apparent response to a federal lawsuit that accuses the site of facilitating prostitution.

The number of ads for such services is down 90 percent to 95 percent during the past 12 months on Craigslist sites that serve five major U.S. cities, according to information posted on a company blog. The site credited the “spectacular” reduction on its joint effort with 40 attorneys general and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children it announced in November 2008, which included the introduction of new measures that require posters to the erotic section to furnish a working phone number and credit card:

Beyond the enormous reduction in ad volume, the ads that remain on the site are much improved in their compliance with our Terms of Use and local laws, in part due to screening measures developed in collaboration with the Attorneys General and law enforcement.

In this same timespan, craigslist staff have continued to work closely with law enforcement agencies across the country to vigorously pursue those engaged in the horrific crimes of human trafficking and exploitation of minors.

Finally, net revenue is accumulating from the fees now required of those posting under “erotic services,” 100% of which is earmarked for donation to worthy charities, and we will soon be in position to begin distributing these funds.

Read her whole story at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution…

Former madam takes advantage of second chance
By SHANE BLATT

Lisa Ann Taylor, dressed in spangly black satin and lace, begins her day wiping off counters, kindling candles and fetching ice under the bar lights at an adult establishment in Atlanta.

The spotlight has dimmed a bit more than a year after the so-called “Mansion Madam” captured national headlines with sordid allegations of running a brothel in one of metro Atlanta’s most exclusive neighborhoods.

Taylor, who pleaded guilty in October 2007 to prostitution and drug charges, was given seven years’ probation and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine within a year.

These days, the 44-year-old tends to the bar and occasionally gyrates in the buff at Doll House on Cheshire Bridge Road, where she goes by her stage name, Melissa Wolf.

“If you tip really well … you get to see the twins,” the former Penthouse model quips to a regular customer.

Such is the reality of her life back in adult entertainment. It’s a world, she said, she was destined to be part of since posing in a photo as a 5-year-old dressed in her mother’s lingerie and a pair of high-heeled shoes.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Taylor started her dancing career in the early 1980s.

Since then, she said she has posed in more than 350 men’s magazines, been filmed in more than two dozen adult movies and even played roles in a dozen garden-variety flicks. “You can get them at Blockbuster.”

Although a year has passed since the high-profile frenzy, Taylor still attracts attention, particularly from what she calls “Mansion Madam groupies.”

Some dicey massage antics get advertised on Craigslist, and the police follow up! Read the whole story at The Marietta Daily Journal…

Six women charged in Cherokee sex sting
By Marietta Daily Journal Staff

The women accused of selling sex acts out of a Hickory Flat barn apparently had a way with words.

Advertisements on the Craigslist.com Web site never said the three-letter word, but Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office investigators read between the lines and launched a six-week investigation.

Six women, three of whom were from Cobb County, were arrested Thursday in connection with the operation on E. Cherokee Drive, according to records released Friday.

The owner was charged with pimping and keeping a place of prostitution, which investigators suspect began operating in August, if not earlier.

Four women accused of masturbation for hire and unlawful massage were arrested. One of the women faces an additional charge of giving a false name to police and is wanted on other charges in DeKalb County.

Another woman at the den who also lives at the house, was charged with possession of heroin and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

“They don’t come out and say what you’re going to get, but it’s obvious,” sheriff’s office Public Information Officer Sgt. Jay Baker said of the online advertisements. “If you call the number, they gave you the menu over the phone. They were explicit about what they were going to give you.”

The ads still were posted on Cragslist on Friday, but the phone number listed went straight to a full voice mailbox belonging to “Terri.”

“Come Find a Little Paradise” and “Let’s Get Wet” the headlines on the listings read. They promise “one-of-a-kind massages,” “four-hand massages,” hot tub massages and “a little fantasy” from “attractive, trim therapists.”