Aug 9, 2006 1:29 pm US/Eastern
Four Arrested In Internet Prostitution Sting
Annapolis, MD (AP) ―
Anne Arundel County police have arrested four people in an investigation into high-priced prostitutes who allegedly have been advertising on a popular Internet classifieds site.
Police say two of the four suspected prostitutes are from California and Illinois, while the others live in Washington, D.C., and Laurel. They were arrested in the past three weeks at hotels near Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and charged with illegally soliciting sex, The (Baltimore) Sun and The Baltimore Examiner reported Wednesday.
The arrests resulted from a months-long investigation by the county's vice unit. Investigators caught the women after reading ads posted on the online classifieds site Craigslist that offered services for $140 to $300.
Police said Tuesday that the prostitutes arrange several weeks' worth of appointments in advance, then fly into a city to meet with clients. They then travel to their next destination.
Experts said Craigslist has become a favorite way for prostitutes to find clients and set up operations in cities where
they don't have a network.
"The Internet facilitates the mobility and the outreach to clients, and there are a number of Web sites, including Craigslist, that these workers use to announce their presence in a particular city during a particular day," said Ronald Weitzer, a sociology professor at George Washington University in Washington. "It's becoming a favored strategy."
A spokeswoman for Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee said Internet prostitution in the county is unusual.
One of the women arrested in Anne Arundel, Ashley Smith, 20, of Washington, said she works independently and doesn't have a pimp. An undercover officer arrested her July 19 at the Holiday Inn in Linthicum.
"I don't really want to do calls in the house," she told The Sun. "I want to go somewhere where people have money. I usually try to go to an airport."
Lately, Smith said, she has been working in Virginia and Maryland.
Smith, who also goes by the names Ashley Price, Jessica Price and Sarah, advertises exclusively on Craigslist because it is free.
It is also effective. Smith said she gets as many as 30 calls a day from a single ad. She said she has been in the sex trade for two years and earns between $10,000 and $30,000 a month.
Another of the arrested women, Emily E. Fritz, 18, of Costa Mesa, Calif., was arrested Aug. 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn near BWI, according to the documents. She charged $150, according to the documents.
Kelly N. West, 20, of Laurel, was arrested at a Motel 6 in that community after an undercover officer gave her $140 for "full service," according to the charging documents.
The fourth woman, 26-year-old Carlena M. Perry of Schaumburg, Ill., was arrested July 19.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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