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 WBZ.com…

Guilty verdicts in MA prostitution ring trial

Federal prosecutors say two Massachusetts members of a violent prostitution ring have been found guilty of forcing teenage girls as young as 15 to work as prostitutes, taking them to several states.

The two men were convicted in U.S. District Court on Friday. Prosecutors had previously said the 26-year-olds were members of a Boston-based group that operated from 2001 to 2005 in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Trafficking victims who were minors when the offenses occurred said in court that Tavares and Jones switched underage girls between themselves and viciously beat them.

Read more at Yahoo News…

PA. prostitution case tossed over gov’t-funded sex

An appeals court has ruled Pennsylvania State Police botched a prostitution investigation in which troopers gave an informant money to pay for sex four times at a massage parlor, along with a total of $180 for the man’s trouble.

The Superior Court opinion issued Thursday upheld a Lehigh County judge’s ruling that threw out prostitution charges on the grounds that the government had acted outrageously.

The appeals court ruling described how the man first approached state police to say he had been solicited for sex at the Shiatsu Spa. Troopers then supplied the unnamed man with government money and sent him back four times to engage in what the county judge called “a smorgasbord of sexual activity” during June and July 2006.

Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg said the man’s subsequent visits did not advance the police investigation. He was given $360 total to pay for the services, plus the extra $180 for his time.

“The outrageous nature is it went beyond what was necessary to prove the prostitution charge,” said the defendant’s Chon’s lawyer, Maureen Coggins.

Owners of Insider Escort Secrets know that paying for escort work with a credit card is not the smartest thing one can do. Too bad Mr. Smarty Pants over here never purchased IES! Read more at The Daily Times…

Judge tosses lawyer’s suit against credit card company
By SHANNON P. DUFFY

A blind lawyer from Broomall, who claims a prostitute racked up more than $14,000 in fake charges on his Discover credit card, has vowed to appeal now that a federal judge has tossed out his lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Edmund V. Ludwig ruled that because the hiring of a prostitute is an illegal act in Pennsylvania, the lawyer’s decision to pay the prostitute with his credit card had effectively voided the credit-card agreement.

In the suit, the attorney testified that he hired the prostitute nearly two dozen times in 2007 and that she told him her fee was $275.

But the attorney claims he later realized the woman had been systematically robbing him by tricking him into signing credit slips with charges as high as $1,600.

When the attorney disputed the charges, he claims Discover Card refused to help and flatly rejected his complaint that the company was failing to do enough to protect its blind customers from fraud.

The attorney filed suit against Discover, claiming breach of contract and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also named the woman and her company as defendants.

The woman denied under oath that she is a prostitute. In court papers, her lawyer, William C. Reil, said the woman is a fitness instructor and that Peoples was her “student.”

Read more at Philly Burbs.com…

Six arrested in prostitution bust
by DAVID LEVINSKY

Six dancers from The Playhouse topless bar were charged with prostitution early Thursday morning.

The dancers were arrested after an eight-month investigation into activities at the Route 130 establishment, police said.

The investigation was conducted by the city police and Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.

…

Police said more arrests are pending but they did not name any other suspects or release additional details about the investigation.

Read the whole story at The Reading Eagle…

3 women jailed on prostitution charges after raid on Amity Township massage parlor
Reading Eagle

Three women were committed to Berks County Prison on prostitution charges Thursday, a day after authorities raided a massage parlor that police said was a front for a prostitution operation in Amity Township.

The women are South Korean and resided on the premises of the Lotus Blossom Spa in the 200 block of East Benjamin Franklin Highway, according to court records.

Two of the women are in the country illegally, according to agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division.

…

Amity police investigated with county detectives and federal agents beginning in the spring after police received complaints from neighbors and other residents who suspected prostitution at the business, authorities said.

The massage parlor is in a converted stone barn near a legitimate beauty salon, authorities said.

Officials gave this account:

An undercover agent posed as a client and determined how the business operated.

Customers were charged $60 to enter the establishment, then taken to a room where a woman told them the prices of various sex acts, ranging from an additional $60 to $100.

Read more at The Daily Item…

Union County spa was brothel, troopers say

What the two managers of a Kelly Township spa did not realize is that the three men who allegedly were offered happy endings after receiving massages were undercover troopers from the state police barracks in Montoursville.

The sting operation, which began July 17, netted two arrests.

The two 63-year-olds are accused of managing a house of prostitution and face other charges, including the promotion of illegal sexual activity taking place at their business, Rainbow Massage & Spa.

The bust went down after three undercover cops, who received late-night massages between July 17 and July 22, were solicited for sex acts by their massage girls.

The massages cost $70. The sex acts ranged from $50 to $140 extra.

A whole lot of guys are sure hating that pesky Business Records Rule of Evidence this morning. Read all about it at KPHO.com…

Desert Divas List Has Escorts’ Notes
‘Johns’ Won’t Face Criminal Charges, Police Say

Phoenix police released a list with the names of thousands of men who allegedly hired escorts as part of the Desert Divas prostitution ring.

Investigators already released one list of names that was found during an initial search.

Wednesday’s list was taken from computers that were seized during another search.

Some names on that list belong to high-profile people with high-paying jobs, such as bank presidents and doctors. Notes next to one name claim the client is an owner of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

Other clients were from out of state, with at least one from a different country.

Nevertheless, because many of them may have used phony names, none of them will face criminal charges.

It reads like a giant black book, with each entry listing the name of the “john,” a price and the girl he allegedly had sex with.

There’s also a listing of where the alleged sex acts took place, specifically popular Valley hotels like the Sheraton, Hyatt and Fairmont Princess.

The list, which was formatted as a database, referenced a client’s status (first time, repeat customer, VIP or do not service) and where he or she found out about the service.

There are even notes from the alleged escorts themselves about each client:

• “Aggressive but a nice guy”
• “Bad, rough client”
• “Do not see ever. Extreme case of herpes.”
• “Calls two agencies at once and which girl gets there quicker…he takes.”

One entry mentioned the client’s wife came home early.

The notes reveal that at one point, the organization may have had a problem with identity theft. At least two entries contained notes about an operator stealing a client’s credit card number; each of those clients was to be given “anything he wants.”

Yet despite all the names, addresses and information, none of these “johns” will be arrested or face any criminal action, according to police.

It’s just innuendo, but Deus Ex Malcontent reports some insights by way of Sirius XM Satellite hosts Opie & Anthony, who were interviewing the ubiquitous Kristin Davis…

The Infamous Mr. Ed

A few minutes ago, the cast of the show on Sirius XM radio were interviewing Kristin Davis — not the one from Sex and the City, the former Manhattan Madam who spent four months in Rikers in connection with the Eliot Spitzer hooker scandal from last year. There’s been quite a bit of speculation that her operation at one time serviced another high-profile governor, besides Spitzer…

Well, during the interview, she admitted that someone she called “Governor X” employed her services at least ten times during a year-and-a-half period. She apparently wrote his name down on a piece of paper and showed it to Opie and Anthony, who then proceeded to spend the next ten minutes dropping hints that a 4-year-old could’ve deciphered.

“What, did he pay her in coal and steel?”

“I guess he had a little filly on the side.”

“Did he used to be an Eagles scout?”

Hmmm, with obvious hints like that, it appears the radio personalities were suggesting that the 2nd Luv Guv’s identity is Pennsylvania’s Democrat governor, Ed Rendell.  But I suppose only his hairdresser knows for sure.

More on Dean Sargent’s sudden resignation as Dean of Villanova Law School, and the innuendo surrounding the decision, at Law.com…

Questions Arise After Law School Dean’s Resignation in Wake of Prostitution Investigation
by Gina Passarella

Word of Villanova Law School Dean Mark Sargent’s resignation last week was accompanied by little in the way of a pronouncement of his accomplishments or a formal press release announcing his next step.

Alumni were surprised at news of the resignation but had nothing but positive things to say about Sargent’s 12-year tenure.

Over the course of the holiday weekend, however, a different picture was painted of Sargent’s decision to step down. Reports in The Philadelphia Inquirer described Sargent’s involvement as a one-time customer of an alleged prostitution house and his subsequent cooperation with state police who were building a case against the owner of the house and two alleged prostitutes. He has not been charged with any crime and is said to have fully cooperated with investigators, according to a report by The Associated Press.

It is unclear when university officials first learned specifically of the alleged prostitution connection. Sargent’s resignation submitted to university President Peter M. Donohue cited “personal and medical” reasons — the exact language the university used in describing the seemingly abrupt resignation. But the school apparently knew that Sargent was involved in some sort of police investigation.