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Police arrest about 100 in prostitution
sting
By
CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star
About 100 people were arrested across
the metropolitan area last week in a prostitution sting that organizers say
is the first of its kind.
Twenty law enforcement agencies participated in the weeklong
bust that covered cities in Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass counties in
Missouri and Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas.
"It was a fabulous week," said Kansas City Police Sgt.
Brad Dumit, who supervises the vice unit. "Nobody can recall doing
anything with this many agencies for this purpose."
Dumit said he hopes the effort will be the beginning of a
long-term, collaborative fight against prostitution across the area and
across state lines.
"A lot of smaller cities don't have vice units," he
said. "We can accomplish more if we combine our manpower and
resources."
Last week's sting began with four ads placed in a local weekly
newspaper and several ads posted on the Internet offering escort services.
The phone numbers listed in the ads all rang into the office of the Kansas
City police vice unit.
Women answered the phones and agreed to meet the callers at the
caller's home or at various hotel rooms, apartments and houses throughout the
area. An undercover officer then posed as the escort, met the caller and
waited to be propositioned. Once the caller agreed to pay money for a sex
act, officers from that jurisdiction moved in for the arrest.
Officers arrested people in various cities, including Kansas
City, Kan.; Merriam; Independence; Harrisonville; North Kansas City; Liberty;
and Riverside.
Dumit said demand for the escorts peaked during the noon lunch
hour and around 3 p.m. Based on interviews with those arrested, Dumit said,
some of the afternoon demand stemmed from men leaving work early to sneak in
a visit with an escort and still arrive home on time.
Officers also staged some reverse stings, where they posed as
escort service customers. Escorts who agreed to perform sex acts in exchange
for money or something else of value were arrested.
Dumit said some prostitution-related arrests led to other
charges. In one instance, an escort was also charged with child endangerment
after officers found her 11-year-old daughter in a bedroom with a 36-year-old
convicted child molester. The woman's 13-month-old baby was lying in the
middle of four pieces of gypsum wallboard that acted as a crib. Workers from
the Missouri Division of Family Services took custody of the woman's five
children.
On Friday, Dumit said, officers also raided four strip clubs in
Kansas City. Officers went into the clubs posing as customers and watched for
violations, such as dancers allowing money to be put in unauthorized areas of
their outfits. About 40 dancers were arrested and charged.
To reach Christine
Vendel, police reporter, call (816) 234-4438 or send e-mail to cvendel@kcstar.com.
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