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.

Read the whole story in the Bits section of The New York Times…

Founder of Prostitution Site Is Arrested at Border
By Matt Richtel

The man who helped move prostitution trafficking from the street corner to the Internet was arrested on Thursday at the Tijuana border, according to the Phoenix police.

David Elms was trying to cross into California on foot. But when he showed his passport to border patrol agents, they detained him after finding a warrant for his arrest.

In February, Mr. Elms was arrested in Phoenix and charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. He then skipped bail.

The details of the assault charges have not been made public. But people briefed on the case said the charges relate to Mr. Elms’s relationship with The Erotic Review, a Web site that he founded. The site allows patrons of prostitutes to rate their experiences, creating a kind of online marketplace. The popularity of the site earned it and Mr. Elms a powerful reputation in prostitution circles.

The long arm of the law catches up with a very active Escort Reviewer, who now faces sentencing.  Read the whole story at The Morning Call…

Active Escort Reviewer awaits criminal sentencing
By Manuel Gamiz Jr.

The former Lehigh Valley businessman who pleaded guilty last week to a felony count of being a customer of what has been called Arizona’s largest prostitution ring was more than just the average john, authorities say.

Besides using the illicit service, the man wrote favorable reviews of his experiences and posted them online, which authorities say helped promote the $250,000-a-month operation.

In return for the reviews, the man and others, including a well-known Arizona doctor, were considered ”VIP customers” and received reduced rates for the escort services, Maricopa County officials said.

In most cases, customers of prostitutes, or johns, wouldn’t face a felony charge, said Michael Scerbo, spokesman for the Maricopa County attorney’s office. But he said this case was different because the VIP customers were helping the prostitution business.

The man’s plea to attempted pandering is classified as a Class 6 felony, which is just above a misdemeanor and could mean probation, Scerbo said. He will be sentenced next month.

He had originally been charged with conspiracy to commit illegal control of an enterprise, illegal participation in an enterprise, money laundering and operating or maintaining a prostitution enterprise.

Some developments over at one of the premier escort internet review sites, The Erotic Review. Read the whole story at The New York Times…

Prostitution Site Cuts Ties With Founder After Charges
By Matt Richtel

In part because of David Elms, the business of prostitution is moving from street corners and hotel bars to the Internet. Mr. Elms founded The Erotic Review, a Web site where patrons of prostitutes go to rate their experiences. It’s a bit like Amazon ratings for prostitutes, except of course that paying for books isn’t illegal in most jurisdictions.

But now The Erotic Review says it has severed its ties with Mr. Elms.

Through its lawyer, the company issued a statement saying that it had “parted ways” with Mr. Elms because of his arrest in Phoenix last month and the charge he faces for conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Mr. Elms was also charged with conspiracy to possess drugs, conspiracy to commit misconduct involving weapons, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Details of Mr. Elms’s arrest and the basis for the charges are sketchy, but the assault charge appears to be in connection with disputes that Mr. Elms has had with his critics and critics of The Erotic Review.

Mr. Elms, who lives in Southern California, was arrested when he arrived in Phoenix shortly after midnight on Feb. 15, according to a statement from the Phoenix police department. The statement said investigators had received a tip that Mr. Elms was trying to hire someone to kill a woman, identified by the police only as a 32-year-old female.

Investigators met with Mr. Elms upon his arrival, and after a 30-minute conversation determined that there was cause to arrest him on a murder charge and also for conspiring to hire someone to seriously injure a 62-year-old man.

The county attorney ultimately dropped the murder charge. A spokesman for the attorney’s office declined to discuss the case. Mr. Elms could not be reached for comment.