Read the whole story at Fox4KC.com…

Wichita Priest Busted in Prostitution Sting

A Catholic priest in Wichita has been arrested in a prostitution sting.

Four other men and two women also were arrested in the sting that occurred late Thursday and early Friday in Wichita.

Bishop Michael Jackels of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita said in a statement that the diocese is cooperating with authorities.

He did not name the priest, but said he has been granted a temporary leave from his ministerial duties to receive counseling.

Jackels said he was “saddened by the situation.”

Read the whole story at The Wichita Eagle…

Prostitution sting nets 11 arrests in north Wichita

Eleven people were arrested in a prostitution sting Friday night in Wichita.

The arrests were made in north and northeast Wichita between 5 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Six women and five men were arrested, ranging in age from 17 to 50.

Those taken into custody were arrested on suspicion of a variety of offenses, including some related to prostitution, carrying a concealed handgun, carrying a concealed BB/pellet gun, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The operation used patrol, community policing and Special Community Action Team officers from the Patrol North Bureau.

Every once in a while a working girl is on the receiving end of a very stiff criminal sentence.  Read the whole article at The Kansas City Pitch…

A walk with a former prostitute, after her five-year sentence
By David Martin

Bob Beaird, the Jackson County prosecutor from 1999 to 2002, brought felony charges against a few persistent offenders. A felony charge came with a prison sentence of up to five years.

Beaird, now a judge of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, says the get-tough initiative caused a stir on Independence Avenue and other streets where prostitutes worked. “I said, ‘Let’s see if we can put more pressure on them,’” Beaird tells me.

The Prosecutor’s Office didn’t keep a rec­ord of the five-year sentences it sought and obtained. I get the sense that it wasn’t a large number. Off the top of his head, Beaird was able to remember the name of one woman. That offender, now age 41, is currently on parole for second-degree robbery.

Another “known prostitute,” as the police refer to a veteran hooker, received a five-year sentence in 2002.

I recently enjoyed a $16.42 date with her.

…

I pull up to a house in south Kansas City that has been cut up into apartments. A middle-aged woman who outweighs me by 50 pounds is standing on the porch.

First stop is a convenience store on Prospect Avenue. Ginger (a pseudonym she chose) requests Bud Light Lime. I buy two 22-ounce bottles. For lunch, I suggest Gates. “Oh, Lord,” Ginger says, “Gates is too rich for my blood.”

Eventually, Ginger begins to relax a little. A funny, intelligent woman begins to emerge. Still, my new friend operates on a different frequency. She mentions that she has bipolar disorder.

…

Ginger says she grew up in the projects. Her mother worked at the post office. She says she got into prostitution while attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She liked the money. She thought of becoming a teacher, but eventually streetwalking became a career.

“There was money in this town in the ’70s, honey,” she says.

Ginger worked the main corridors of prostitution — Main Street, Troost Avenue, the West Bottoms. She was a pioneer of sorts. “See, I was one of the first bitches to start working on Independence Avenue, in ‘81.”

Ginger worked alone. “I never had a pimp. A pimp is a poor man. Sell his ass, just like I sell mine.”

For protection, she relied on her wits. She left for Oklahoma City when, in 1988, the bodies of prostitutes who worked Independence Avenue began to turn up in the Missouri River.

Violence was a constant threat. “When Terry Blair [a serial murderer captured in 2004] was out here killing the prostitutes, I wasn’t getting in the car,” Ginger says. “I’d get in the car with old men. Well, shit, I ain’t no motherfucking fool. This is my hometown. I was born and raised here. The serial killer wasn’t an old man.”

Ginger says she traded exclusively in oral sex. “I didn’t have intercourse, just blow jobs. I used condoms. I put a rubber on and get busy.” For her, the plague of the ’80s wasn’t AIDS — it was crack. Ginger says she didn’t use hard drugs. But crack addictions led other prostitutes to drop their prices to $5 and $10.

“Prostitution used to be a big business in this town,” Ginger says. “Since crack come out, it’s no money. A person might as well get a Social Security check or go to the soup kitchen or get a job. There’s not no money in this town since crack came out.” Ginger holds prostitutes with cocaine addictions in low esteem. She calls them “crackitutes.”

A look at how the industry is reacting to Craigslist working with law enforcement in its fight against escort services. Read the whole story at InternetNews.com…

Life After Craigslist for Online Sex Trade
By Kenneth Corbin

Craigslist made a splash last month when it announced a set of policy changes aimed at stamping out sex crimes facilitated through the Erotic Services section of its site. But sex workers and legal experts say the measures are likely to have scant impact on the shadowy world of online prostitution.

Following the initial report about the new policies, a reader who identified herself as a “working girl in San Francisco” told InternetNews.com that Craigslist is hardly the only game in town.

“Because of the new procedure on Craigslist, we are turning to other Web sites … to promote our services,” she wrote in an e-mail. “These sites are free and just as effective. I don’t believe that this change in Craigslist will do anything to affect the industry.”

The reader declined to be interviewed further for this report, but people on both sides of the war on prostitution agree that the multiplicity of adult-oriented sites on the Internet has made the policeman’s work considerably more complicated.

“It’s really just a function of today’s digital economy,” said Alex Southwell, an attorney with the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and a former federal prosecutor. “The Internet’s ability to make illicit services available is really groundbreaking.”

“It’s a question of convenience,” Southwell told InternetNews.com. “It used to be for prostitution you would have to go to some shady corner of town at night. Now you can do it on the Internet.”

Some interesting analysis on Craigslist’s new found cooperation with law enforcement regarding the erotic services niche. Read the whole story at The Las Vegas Sun…

Hawking erotic services? Craigslist now has your number
By Abigail Goldman

Mahria is a “beautiful blonde” offering “erotic wrestling” for $100.

Dru is charging $80 for an hour of “sensual massage.”

Alicia can be at your door in half an hour.

These advertisements, which come with photos a family newspaper won’t print, are a small sample of what can be found in the “erotic services” section of Craigslist in Las Vegas — an online classified ads Web site that, aside from helping people find roommates or sell old lawn mowers, has become one of the most popular ways for Clark County escorts to peddle their wares to the electronic masses. It’s an Internet buffet of costly companionship, but perhaps not for long.

Just over two weeks ago, Craigslist began charging a fee to advertise on the site’s “erotic services” section. The fee is small — $5 — but the consequences are huge.

The fee must be paid with a credit card, and Craigslist will supply this credit card information to law enforcement officials, should they subpoena it. Erotic services advertisers must also provide a phone number, which an automated system will call before any posting is published online.

In short, Craigslist is working with the police.

Erotic services advertisements in the dozens of American cities Craigslist serves have fallen dramatically since Nov. 6, when the fee took effect, the company’s chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, told the Sun. On Monday in Las Vegas, that meant there were only 362 erotic services ads posted on Craigslist. The Monday before the traceable fees, there were more than 1,100 ads.

Is the party over for working girls on Craigslist? Read the whole story at SFGate.com…

Craigslist to crack down on prostitution ads

Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged Thursday to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites.

As part of Craigslist’s agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an “erotic services” ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.

LE in Kansas focuses on the street walking scene!  The Kentucky Post reports…

Covington Police Cracking Down On Prostitution

It’s a dangerous job, but police in Covington are cutting back on a crime that affects the entire community.

Undercover officers are posing as prostitutes to catch interested buyers.

Sergeant Kevin Sumner says these missions are important to the city and he wants people to know his officers aren’t taking prostitution lightly.

“It makes a big impact on the city. We have a lot of people that live and work here and they like the quality of life and that’s the reason we do this,” said Sgt. Sumner. “To improve the quality of life for the citizens that live and work here.”

On Monday night it took the undercover officer just minutes on the street before police made their first arrest.

Sumner says on an average night they arrest up to 10 people.

“We usually end up with quit a few arrests and it usually slows down the activity in the area for quit a while after we’ve done a detail like this,” said Sgt. Sumner.

On Monday night police were focused on people wanting to buy services from a prostitute, however, they often focus on the prostitutes themselves.

A look at one of the ‘John Schools’ rising all across the USA, and some insights on how the word’s oldest profession hurts just about everybody.   Read the whole story at The Kansas City Star…

‘John school’ shows men how prostitution hurts women, communities, themselves
By JOE LAMBE

Before trying to hire a prostitute, consider this: You could find yourself in “john school.”

For six hours you’ll hear reformed prostitutes, neighborhood leaders and health professionals talk about how you prey on damaged women, trash communities and imperil your health.

Lenexa, a city known for busting johns, recently started sending the men to the Kansas City school, which is run by Veronica’s Voice, a group that tries to help prostitutes find other careers. Kansas City and Wyandotte County send offenders there as well.

The quiet local effort is part of an emerging approach in the fractious debate over how best to limit the harm caused by paid sex. Some countries legalize it, some jail the women, and some go after the men.

Sweden jails johns while providing social services to help prostitutes leave the business. The United Kingdom is considering that as well.

In the United States, researchers say, prostitutes are arrested and jailed far more often than customers. But some experts support the Swedish approach, and john schools are spreading.

At the local john school, students come in from all social strata, said Kristy Childs, a founder of Veronica’s Voice.

“We have gotten leaders of churches. We’ve gotten CEOs of companies,” she said. “We’ve got to do something about demand.”

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