Read more at The Province…

64 charges against prostitutes, johns in Calgary sting
By Sherri Zickefoose

A city-wide prostitution sting has seen 64 charges laid against johns and sex trade workers.

Police also have seized 25 cars from johns caught soliciting prostitutes, a penalty provided for in Alberta law.

Police made arrests on nine outstanding warrants as they operated the two-week undercover sting.

First-time johns can get their cars back after performing community service, but those who get caught more than once could see their vehicles seized by the Alberta government and auctioned off.

Read more at MyFoxPhilly.com…

Prostitution Sting Leads To 102 Arrests
76 Men, 26 Women Charged As A Result Of Sting

Philadelphia police say a prostitution sting netted more than a hundred people over a 12-day period.

Police say undercover officers posed as prostitutes, leading to the arrests of 76 men. Authorities also arrested 26 women on charges related to prostitution.

Some of the men arrested also face weapons charges, including one for allegedly carrying a 10-inch butcher knife.

Investigators had hoped to capture the man or men responsible for the rapes and beatings of four women in the city’s Kensington neighborhood. Police say the sting did not turn up any suspects in those cases.

The suspect is described as a black male, in his late 20s to early 30s, approximately 5’ 10’’, 230 pounds with short haircut and a facial hair. Anyone with information is urged to call police.

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.

Some fellas looking for love in all the wrong places hit up undercover cops.  Read the story at The Trentonian…

For 8, it’s “john” d’oh!
By JOE D’AQUILA

Eight local men out looking for love found out they were looking in all the wrong places Wednesday night, after the ladies of the evening they sought out turned out instead to be the lovely ladies from the city police department.

Police said they sent female officers undercover in the area of Genessee and Dye streets after receiving complaints from residents about prostitution in the neighborhood.

The hardworking police women replaced the regular working girls for the night, but the customers still came calling.

Police said the following list of men all propositioned the undercover officers and were all arrested and charged with prostitution offenses. The arrestees were:

Read all the details at PNJ.com…

Sheriff’s ‘Dear John’ letter is misleading
Charged with soliciting prostitution? Morgan implies vehicle can be seized
by Thyrie Bland

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released the letter it plans to send to owners of vehicles used in prostitution-related crimes.

The letter, signed by Sheriff David Morgan, mentions several scary repercussions of prostitution, including sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, violence, drug use and sales, and human trafficking of juveniles for the sex trade.

The first paragraph also contains a sentence falsely suggesting that a car is subject to forfeiture if its driver is arrested on a solicitation charge.

The first sentence of the letter states: “The vehicle registered in your name was involved in an arrest for violation(s) of Florida’s laws prohibiting prostitution.”

The letter then goes on to say: “As vehicle owner, you should be aware of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act wherein motor vehicles can be seized if they are used in violation of this act.”

But what the letter does not say is that the Forfeiture Act does not allow for seizure of vehicles for misdemeanor arrests for prostitution and solicitation. Rather, the act would apply if the vehicle were used in the commission of a felony.

Morgan was unavailable for comment Tuesday, with his spokespeople saying he was either out of the office or in a meeting.

But Darlene Dickey, the attorney for the Sheriff’s Office, said the sentence about the Forfeiture Act “by no means” says vehicles are subject to forfeiture because of the driver’s arrest.

“It was put in there as a public service to advise vehicle owners … that if your vehicle is continually used in criminal endeavors that you could possibly face forfeiture of your vehicle,” Dickey said. “Nowhere in it does it say we are going to forfeiture your vehicle for prostitution.”

The first round of letters is to go out after the next series of arrests targeting prostitutes, said Sgt. Ted Roy, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Dickey, asked if the wording will be changed before then, said she has not been instructed to do so.

Here’s the letter…

Continue reading ‘Escambia County’s Dear John Letter Revealed’ »

I can be dangerous out there, fellas. Read the whole story at The Bradenton Herald…

Men robbed at house of prostitution

Two men report being robbed while visiting a house of prostitution Thursday.

According to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report, both men at first reported being robbed on the street.

After investigators questioned the two men, inconsistencies with their stories were detected. Both of the men eventually said they went to visit the house of prostitution, at different times.

When the first man entered the home at about 5 p.m. Thursday, five to eight men, one armed with a handgun, confronted him.

The suspects took the man’s money, about $40, and the keys to his Chevy Blazer, before tying him with his shoelaces and placing him a back room.

The other victim went to the house at about 8:40 p.m. and also was confronted by five to eight men.

They took his money, about $700, and the keys to his Cadillac Escalade.

The man was tied up with his shoelaces and put into the back room, where there were about four or five other men, also tied up.

The victims managed to free themselves and escape, then called law enforcement. When deputies arrived at the house, they found it empty.

Read the whole story at Pensacola News Journal…

‘Dear John’ plan in works
Sheriff’s Office looks to alert owners of cars johns use to pick up prostitutes

Letters the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office talked about sending to wives whose husbands solicit prostitution aren’t in the mail yet.

The Sheriff’s Office is considering another approach that could have the same impact as the letters to wives, Lt. Pat Spears said.

Spears said the idea is to find the registered owners of the vehicles that johns drive and send letters to the owners. This way, wives could still see the letters.

“We have to get the wording just right,” Spears said.

In March, the Sheriff’s Office said it was considering sending letters to the wives as a means of combating the crime.

The Sheriff’s Office wants to make sure whatever approach it takes passes the legal muster.

“We are still gathering data from other communities that have had similar programs,” Sheriff David Morgan said.

…

Spears said part of the purpose of the letter-writing idea is the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

“The goal is not to cause domestic violence or cause problems,” she said. “The goal is … trying to get the message out that you could very well have a disease, and you are passing it on.”

Cook County law enforcement is ushering in some serious fines for getting busted trying to convince a lady for some play for pay.  Read the whole story at MyFoxChicago.com…

Getting Busted With a Hooker May Get More Expensive

Getting busted for picking up a prostitute in unincorporated Cook County may no longer be a criminal offense under a proposal being considered by the Cook County Board.

Instead, “johns” would face steep penalties — $1,000 fines, impounded vehicles and 100 hours of community service — under a proposed county public morals nuisance ordinance.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says he’s pushing for the change because current misdemeanor criminal charges for soliciting prostitutes — typically a $100 fine and charges expunged from a person’s record after taking a 2-hour class — do not effectively deter repeat offenders.

“We’re trying to do something that has not been done before. We’re using our brains,” Dart said. “Our experience with prostitution stings shows it’s a broken record. [Johns] pay the $100 fine and they’re out the door. They take a 2-hour class that expunges everything from their record … and they’re out there again continuing their behavior.”

Mopre jurisdictions turn to ‘John Schools’ in their fight against the hobby.   NBC4 in Columbus, Ohio reports…

Johns Go To John School

COLUMBUS, Ohio – - The latest reverse prostitution sting has landed a new group of johns in john school.

The Columbus City Attorney’s Office started the classes for those picked up for soliciting prostitution about a year ago.

Columbus Police say the classes are reducing the number of repeat offenders.

The men learn about the law surrounding prostitution and risks of getting a sexually transmitted disease. Former sex addicts and former prostitutes share their stories, and community leaders like Bruce Warner encourage the johns to turn their lives around.

Warner, Franklinton Area Commissioner, tells NBC 4’s Ana Jackson, “You can’t legislate changes you can’t beat them into fear. They have to want to change and to talk to the fellows if some of them change it’s a win.”

The city attorney says there are more than 900 women convicted of street prostitution in Columbus. Plans are in the works to start a sally school, similar to the john school, to help prostitutes turn their lives around.

The Police in Reading, PA have taken to becoming pen pals with suspected clients. Read the whole story at The Reading Eagle…

Letters to suspected johns remain part of anti-prostitution efforts in Reading
By Steven Henshaw

More than a year ago, Reading police tried a new strategy to fight the age-old problem of prostitution.

In June 2007, the department began mailing so-called john letters to registered owners of vehicles that were observed trolling for prostitutes – at least in the judgment of police.

The measure supplements enforcement activity, including undercover prostitution details, in which male officers pose as johns and female officers pose as prostitutes.

Department officials said they can’t say for sure if the letters are having an impact, but they said the effort is worth making.

“We don’t have data to say it works,” Deputy Chief Mark E. Talbot Sr. said. “We want to continue to be creative with how we communicate to people that they aren’t doing things the right way.

“If we can get to them with letters, we are going to continue to do that. We believe it’s a positive thing to do.”

Talbot couldn’t say how many of the letters have been sent out because no one keeps track of that.

“We encourage the letters to be sent by all levels,” he said.

He said the letters are not accusatory, but educational.

The letter lists the date and time that police observed a particular vehicle in an enforcement area, and states that an officer observed a suspected prostitute speaking with the driver.

“Such activity can be related to prostitution and the solicitation of prostitutes,” the letter states.

Talbot said the letters could dissuade those who patronize prostitutes from continuing to do so, especially if they have to answer to a spouse or boss who may receive the letter.