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.

Read more at NewsFirst5.com…

Prostitution spike in Colorado Springs
By Nicole Vandeputte

An alert’s been issued about a spike in prostitution in one section of Colorado Springs.

Detectives with Metro VNI say they’ve seen a big increase this year on east Platte avenue. So far this year, they’ve arrested 87 prostitutes and “Johns” there. In that same area last year, there were just 20 arrests.

They say that is the biggest increase they’ve seen in the city since their task force, targeting prostitution, was formed 6 years ago.

Detectives say they haven’t been able to pinpoint a reason for this increase. Detective Kristin Buckley works undercover. She says, “A couple of them say because they can’t find work or they’ve been laid off. Other than trying to support their drug habit, they don’t have a reason.”

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 more at CBS8.com…

El Monte city manager cited in prostitution sting

Pomona police say they posed as prostitutes and johns to arrest 30 suspected streetwalkers and customers – including the city manager of nearby El Monte.

Police say 59-year-old James Mussenden was among 18 men issued citations for soliciting Thursday night. He was not jailed.

Mussenden’s office was closed Friday and a call seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Officer Richard Martinez says undercover vice officers conducted a sting operation from about 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday in a Pomona neighborhood that has been the focus of complaints about solicitation.

In addition to the men, police booked and jailed a dozen women on suspicion of prostitution.

Read more at WKXAN.com…

South Austin prostitution sting nets 19
Undercover officers attract ‘Johns’
by Erin Cargile

Undercover Austin police attracted nearly 20 ‘Johns’ on South Austin streets in two nights. It was the first prostitution sting in the area in two years.

Police Lt. Joe Robles said the department decided to concentrate efforts in South Austin after a crime analyst noticed 18 sexual assaults had occurred in the area since January 1, 2009. Half of the victims were strippers and prostitutes.

Wednesday night 16 men were arrested after making deals with the undercover officers standing on corners. Most of the arrests occurred at the intersection of Burton Drive and Woodland Avenue.

By 9:30 p.m. Thursday night police had arrested three men on South Congress close to Ben White. Police said that is also the area where prostitutes were arrested in mid-September. Police arrested 20 women during two separate stings.

Each time, an undercover female officer posts up on a corner. They are typically approached by a ‘John’ in a vehicle who waves the prostitute over or honks. She walks over to the vehicle and the two agree on a price for sex. Once the verbal agreement is made, a crime has been committed and the arrest team moves in.

A major Irish escort-related website is now offering working girls the opportunity to compare notes about bad clients. Read more at The Irish Examiner…

Prostitution website to identify dangerous punters
By Stephen Rogers

THE country’s biggest advertiser of online prostitution has put a section on its website allowing sex workers to identify dangerous punters they have encountered.

Escort-ireland.com said the crudely named “ugly mug scheme” will improve the safety of sex workers, and reduce crimes committed against them.

Prostitutes who experience threats or violence are now able to fill in a form on the website detailing their experience.

Through drop-down menus that form allows the alleged victim to explain the type of violence experienced, how they were threatened, where it happened and make a detailed description of the alleged attacker. The location, form of violence and abridged contact details for the attacker will also be put on the website to be viewed by prostitutes advertising on it. The former prostitute who owns the escort-ireland site and calls herself “Patricia Albright” said: “Escorts can log on to our bad clients system 24/7 and browse and search reports. They can search by date, location, the type of offence or the phone number/email address that the bad client used.

“An important feature of our system is that escorts can choose to be warned about dangerous punters by text message. Most escorts do not have Internet access at all times, but an escort is never without her mobile phone.

“We want escorts to get the warning as soon as possible when there is a dangerous client about.

It’s dangerous out there, ladies. Read more at NewsOK…

Oklahoma City police accuse father, son of tying up and beating prostitute
By Michael Kimball

Police arrested an Oklahoma City man and his son last week after an officer said he walked into the father’s bedroom and found the son trying to smother a bloodied and partially tied-up prostitute.

The two men remained at the Oklahoma County jail today in lieu of $55,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said. Police arrested them Thursday at their apartment on complaints of kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim, who police identified only as a woman born in 1972, said she met two men the previous morning when they offered her a ride and a beer, according to a police report released today. She told police the elder man offered her $25 for a “date,” but she told them she would only do it for $60 or $80 and left when they started calling her names.

The victim said the younger man saw her the next day, and she again agreed to go with him in his car when he offered her beer, the report states. She told officers she was attacked when she got to the apartment.

The streets of El Paso were hot over this past weekend! Read more at KVIA.com…

19 arrested during prostitution sting

“Operation John,” a four-day prostitution sting, resulted in the arrests of 19 men, officials with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

The sting, spearheaded by the sheriff’s office Strike Team, took place the week of August 4 through August 8. Officials said undercover female deputies posed as prostitutes in several areas of the county that are known for prostitution activity.

As a result of the operation, 15 people were arrested for offering to engage or agreeing to engage in sexual activity for a fee. They were charged with prostitution. Two of those arrested had outstanding warrants.

The stakes are getting higher for the average guy driving around, looking for some TLC. Read the whole article at King5.com…

Police now impounding johns’ cars

For the first time in Washington, police are impounding the cars of men patronizing prostitutes.

Using an undercover officer during a sting along Pacific Highway South last Wednesday, Kent police arrested 10 johns and impounded five vehicles under the new law that went into effect last week.

A registered sex offender was also arrested for promoting prostitution.

The new law allows certain signed areas to be designated as impound zones. If a person is arrested for patronizing a prostitute, their vehicle is impounded and a $500 fee must be paid before the vehicle is released. That’s not including the court appearance and any penalties for the crime itself. The impound fee goes to a state fund specifically used for prevention and intervention of prostitution.

“All of those $500 go to a state fund that fund intervention and prevention, so instead of johns approaching these girls, we have social service workers approaching them,” said Steve Strachan, Kent Police Chief, in March 2009.

“You’ll see a lot of girls at the bus stops and they’ll walk up and down,” said Tess Liffingwell who see the activity from her office in Kent where prostitutes – some of whom could be teenagers – are working a stretch of Pacific Highway South in Kent, day and night.