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 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.

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.

A mother-daughter pay-for-sex duo makes the news. Read all about it at Action 6 News in Philadelphia…

Daughter gets probation in online sex scheme

A 22-year-old Philadelphia woman is on probation after she and her mother allegedly offered to perform sexual services through Internet advertisements on the Craigslist Web site.

Tami Smith pleaded no contest in April to charges of prostitution and conspiracy. She was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation.

Her mother, 39-year-old Traci Young, initially pleaded guilty in the case then withdrew the plea. She will stand trial later this month.

The women had advertised themselves on Craigslist as a sexy mother-daughter team.

A 22-year-old Philadelphia woman is on probation after she and her mother allegedly offered to perform sexual services through Internet advertisements on the Craigslist Web site.

The woman pleaded no contest in April to charges of prostitution and conspiracy. She was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation.

Her 39-year-old mother initially pleaded guilty in the case then withdrew the plea. She will stand trial later this month.

The women had advertised themselves on Craigslist as a sexy mother-daughter team.

An undercover officer responded to one of the ads and the pair was arrested Oct. 2.

It’s the zombie of prostitution cases – this one won’t die. Of continued note is law enforcement’s use of the agency’s billing records in order to make cases against people involved with the criminal enterprise. This includes a handful of hapless clients who got ‘VIP’ status in exchange for favorable reviews, and those guys now have a date in court.

Read the whole story at ABC-15…

New arrests in Phoenix Desert Diva prostitution sting

The Maricopa County Attorney and Phoenix Police announced Friday that 43 more people have been indicted in a prostitution investigation that began in 2007.

The arrests led to a 112 count indictment and so far 19 people have been arrested for their involvement in Desert Divas. They were arrested by police in Phoenix, Colorado, Florida and the state of Washington.

Thomas said the investigation included financial records, computer records and interviews.

Eleven women were arrested on prostitution charges.

Four others are alleged to be VIP customers, according to Thomas. Three of them have been served with notice of indictment.

One man is accused of being a photographer for the operation and two women were allegedly phone operators working for Desert Divas and its associated businesses.

Thomas said, “This case is beyond prostitution. This was a major criminal syndicate that allegedly made millions of dollars.”

The business allegedly was making bank deposits of $250,000 a month, according to Thomas.

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.

Read the whole story at MyFoxPhilly.com…

Son In Room During Prostitution Arrest
7-Year-Old Boy Placed In Care Of Family Services

Bensalem Township police arrested a mother for alleged prostitution at a motel. They say her 7-year-old son witnessed her performing sex acts and she lived in squalor.

Police said they found a terrible case of innocence lost at the tired motel on Old Lincoln Highway, Fox 29’s Julie Kim reported.

Police said the 36-year-old woman engaged in the world’s oldest profession right in front of her son.

According to Bensalem Director of Public Safety Frank Harran, “This lady had her 7-year-old son, while she was servicing Johns, he was locked in the bathroom and he lived in the shower stall and that’s where he played. There were also when he was underneath a desk where she put him kind of with a dog cage in front of it to lock him in there.”

How long had this been going on? Police said Thomas moved around a lot and had stayed at the Mall Motel for more than three months.

The woman has been charged with prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child. Police said she also faces counts for marijuana and drug paraphernalia also found in the motel room.

Seven key operators and two customers plead guilty in the Desert Divas case.  Clients who get too close in an effort to live out a Walter Mitty fantasy should be warned!  Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

9 In Desert Divas Case Plead Guilty

Seven key operators and two customers in the Desert Divas prostitution ring pleaded guilty, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Friday.

It is the largest prostitution bust in Arizona history. Not only did investigators make dozens of arrest, they also seized cash, drugs and weapons.

The ring came to an end in August 2008, when investigators busted several Valley locations.

Police documents have revealed that the Johns generally paid a $375 all-inclusive rate. And if the escorts showed up late, they had to pay a fine.

According to investigators, the criminal enterprise was making bank deposits totaling $250,000 a month.

This list may be as long as 6,500 names!  Quite a few guys won’t sleep soundly tonight!  Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

Police: Desert Divas Clients Named

Phoenix police have released the list of alleged clients linked to the Desert Divas prostitution investigation and it’s 649 pages long.

The list averages about 10 clients per page. There may be as many as 6,500 possible clients of the alleged prostitution ring.

Investigators said they found the names of two police officers on the list, one from the Valley and one from out of state.

The list is put together like a database, with headings that include client name, appointment address, client telephone number, model name and appointment date.

It is alphabetized by the client’s last name. It appears to cover a time period from May 2005 to May 2008.

“For the Phoenix cases, the city prosecutor will look at those cases and what cases we submit to them they will review,” said Sgt. Andy Hill of the Phoenix Police Department. “If they believe there’s probable cause, they will go ahead and charge in those cases. But we’re a long ways from there.”

According to the list, the going rate for an hour with a model was $350 to $400 an hour.

So far, police have not arrested any of the men on the client list. Officers said most of the names are people who live outside the Valley and many of them are out of state.

Investigators said they will forward those names to the jurisdictions where those people live.

Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

Desert Divas List Kept Under Wraps

It’s a list that hundreds of Valley men in the Desert Divas prostitution case do not want made public, and they appear to be getting their wish for the next few days.

Police were set to release more than 30,000 pages of documents relating to the investigation Tuesday afternoon, but withheld them at the last minute, citing privacy concerns.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill, the documents contained some information not intended for public view.

They’re working to correct the problem and the documents could be released by the end of the week.

CBS 5 News put in the public records request for the entire investigation, including the list of “johns” who are accused of paying the “Desert Divas” for sex, several months ago.

In August, Phoenix police shut down the alleged high-dollar call-girl operation after a 5-month investigation. Out of more than 50 arrests, officers detained about a dozen men and women they said were key players in the business.

Among the evidence they confiscated were detailed ledgers that contained names, phone numbers and addresses of hundreds of customers. Authorities also seized three residences, eight vehicles — including a Ferrari 43C CP — and one motorcycle.