Responding to numerous complaints of prostitution activity in the downtown area, police arrested 23 people during an Operation John sting Friday night and early Saturday.

Mayor Will Flanagan said that since taking office and doing neighborhood tours, complaints of prostitution were a “theme” he heard throughout the city.

Two female police officers posed as prostitutes for the operation. Once a solicitation for sex for a fee by so-called “johns” was made to the decoys, the men were arrested.

“My goal as mayor is to put a chilling effect on prostitution in the city,” Flanagan said.

“The johns are funding this operation. If we chill the johns, we subsequently chill prostitution in the city.”

The Herald News is publishing the names and photos of those arrested in the sting, which Flanagan said will “make them think twice about soliciting for sex.”

Chief Daniel Racine said “quality of life” is an important issue as it relates to “people having to see this in their neighborhood.”

Racine said the crime of prostitution is not taken lightly. “We want to send a message to the community.”

Flanagan said that during his neighborhood tours earlier this year, he was told of women and girls being approached by vehicles as they awaited rides to work or school in the morning. Occupants of the vehicles would ask them if they were “working the streets.”

“Our citizens shouldn’t have to be subjected to this on our streets,” he said. “It’s a quality of life issue that we take seriously.”

Another byproduct of prostitution is sexually transmitted diseases that can be passed from the prostitutes to their clients and onto their significant others.

City Councilor Brian Bigelow, 49, of 1367 Robeson St., was among the arrestees.

Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Gauvin said the operation was in response to numerous complaints by residents and business owners regarding prostitution and related heavy vehicular traffic in the downtown area.

Members of the Vice and Intelligence Unit, led by Detective Sgt. Daniel Dube, deployed Operation John along with officers from the Uniform Division and Special Operations Division.

A total of 25 officers and detectives participated in the sting, including Officers Marybeth Buglio and Lynn Foley, who posed as prostitutes.

“As a result, 22 males and one female were arrested,” Gauvin said.

The operation ran from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. Two areas focused on were the intersections of North Main and Pine streets, and Morgan and Ridge streets.

Racine said the large number of officers involved is for security reasons.

“Making the neighborhoods better is great, but safety is paramount,” he said.

Flanagan and Racine oversaw the operation from the chief’s car, which followed surveillance and “takedown” vehicles once a target vehicle was identified.

One of the first takedowns occurred Friday about 6:30 p.m. at South Main and Columbia streets, where a suspect was stopped after allegedly propositioning an undercover officer at the North Main Street location.

All the police vehicles converging on the intersection drew the attention of many and momentarily slowed traffic as the suspect was taken into custody.

The mayor and the chief alighted from their vehicle to observe the takedown.

“The idea is to send a message,” Flanagan said. “People see the blue lights. People are coming out to see what’s going on. They want it. They know something good just happened.”

Flanagan expressed hope that at some point the Legislature will include the seizure of the johns’ vehicles in the prostitution solicitation statute.

“In Massachusetts, we can’t seize the vehicle,” he said. “If we could, that would really be a deterrent to prostitution on public ways.”

Also arrested on a charge of offering to engage in sex for a fee were:
Ronald D. Coulombe, 55, 501 Riverside Ave., Somerset; Manuel Raposo Jr., 59, 169 Covel St.; Eric C. Hoffman, 36, 822 Meridian St.; Michael A. Borges, 40, 6 Village Drive, Dartmouth; Cliffton R. Neumyer, 50, 190 Jefferson St.; Brian K. Blackburn, 37, 208 Walter St.; Steven M. Oliveira, 30, 438 S. Main St.,; Emanuel D. Fernandes-Mendes, 25, 70 Sunset Hill; Lloyd R. Sherman, 39, 236 Mount Hope Ave.; Peter P. Souza, 36, 46 Hiram St.; Paul J. Arraiol, 34, 451 Ocean Grove Ave., Swansea.

Also, Steven M. Enos, 23, 41 Seamore St., Berkley; Brijesh M. Patel, 35, 139 Commonwealth Ave., Attleboro; Ritesh V. Patel, 37, 63 April Lane, Tiverton; John E. Rosenbaum, 29, 791 Plymouth Ave.; Guilherme Pimentel, 38, 551 Palmer St.; Peter Feijo, 33, 22 Arthur St.; Gabriel M. Melo, 22, 15 Ridge St.; Scott D. Almeida, 33, 23 Christine Drive, Westport; Paul R. Mendonca, 63, 132 French St., and Juvenil L. DaSilva, 42, 120 Diman St.

Rosenbaum also is charged with possession of a Class B drug.

Staci Couto, 40, of 40 Chaloner St., was arrested outside 186 S. Main St. and charged with the same offense after she allegedly offered to engage in sex with an undercover male police officer.

“After observing suspicious activity, Officer John Cabral investigated and a lone female was arrested for offering to engage in sex for a fee,” Gauvin said.

E-mail John Moss at jmoss@heraldnews.com.

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

SAN FRANCISCO — Craigslist, by shutting off its “adult services” section and slapping a “censored” label in its place, may be engaging in a high-stakes stunt to influence public opinion, some analysts say.

Since blocking access to the ads as the Labor Day weekend began — and suspending a revenue stream that could bring in an estimated $44 million this year — Craigslist has refused to discuss its motivations. But using the word “censored” suggests that the increasingly combative company is trying to draw attention to its fight with state attorneys general over sex ads and to issues of free speech on the Internet.

The law has been on Craigslist’s side. The federal Communications Decency Act protects Web sites against liability for what their users post on the sites. And last year, the efforts of attorneys general were stymied when a federal judge blocked South Carolina’s attorney general from prosecuting Craigslist executives for listings that resulted in prostitution arrests.

“It certainly appears to be a statement about how they feel about being judged in the court of public opinion,” said Thomas R. Burke, a First Amendment lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine who specializes in Internet law and does not work for Craigslist. “It’s certainly the law that they’re not liable for it, but it’s another matter if the attorneys general are saying change your ways.”

Attorneys general and advocacy groups have continued to pressure the company to remove the “adult services” section. A letter from 17 state attorneys general dated Aug. 24 demanded that Craigslist close the section, contending that it helped facilitate prostitution and the trafficking of women and children.

The “adult services” section of Craigslist was still blocked in the United States on Sunday evening. “Sorry, no statement,” Susan MacTavish Best, Craigslist’s spokeswoman, wrote on Sunday in response to an e-mail message.

Analysts said that if the block was a temporary statement of protest, it could backfire because of the avalanche of news coverage that the site had received for taking down the ads.

“I’m very convinced that this is permanent, even if it was not their intention to make it permanent,” said Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of the Advanced Interactive Media Group, a consulting firm that follows Craigslist closely. “I think it will be difficult, if not impossible, for them to go back and reopen that section without really running into a buzzsaw of negative publicity and reaction.”

Attorneys general in several states said they had so far been unable to get any information from Craigslist.

“If this announcement is a stunt or a ploy, it will only redouble our determination to pursue this issue with Craigslist, because they would be in a sense be thumbing their nose at the public interest,” Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general who has headed the campaign against Craigslist, said in an interview by phone on Sunday.

Mr. Blumenthal said Craigslist’s outside lawyer had been in touch with his office, but that the lawyer had not clarified whether the shutdown of the section was permanent, or said when Craigslist might make a statement.

Even though courts have said that Craigslist is protected under federal law, Mr. Blumenthal said part of his mission was to rally public support to change federal law.

“Raising public awareness is extraordinarily important, because it increases support for changes in the law that will hold them accountable,” he said. “Their view of the law, which is blanket immunity for every site on the Internet, never has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court, and I think there is some serious doubt.”

Richard Cordray, the Ohio attorney general, said in an interview by phone on Sunday: “We’re taking it at face value. I think it’s a step forward, maybe grudging, in response to the efforts of the attorneys general.”

But Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, was more skeptical about Craigslist’s intentions. “Certainly because of the way they did it,” she said, “it leaves an open question as to whether this is truly the end of adult services on Craigslist or if this is just a continuing battle.”

For a site that prides itself on being a neighborly town square, Craigslist has been increasingly pugnacious in response to its critics.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist’s chief executive, has written screeds on the company blog explaining and defending Craigslist’s efforts to combat sex crimes, including manually screening sex ads and meeting with advocacy groups.

“Craigslist is committed to being socially responsible, and when it comes to adult services ads, that includes aggressively combating violent crime and human rights violations, including human trafficking and the exploitation of minors,” he wrote last month.

But he also uses the blog to lash out at eBay, an investor and a competitor that also has a sex ads service, and Craigslist critics and reporters who question Craigslist’s actions on sex ads.

Last month, Amber Lyon of CNN reported about sex ads on Craigslist and questioned Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist and who is no longer a manager at the company, outside a conference where he spoke about a different topic.

In a blog post addressed to Ms. Lyon, Mr. Buckmaster responded: “There is a class of ‘journalists’ known for gratuitously trashing respected organizations and individuals, ignoring readily available facts in favor of rank sensationalism and self-promotion. They work for tabloid media.”

And he wrote a sarcastic post titled “Advocate Indeed” in response to a television appearance by Malika Saada Saar, executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a nonprofit group that has urged Craigslist to shut the sex ads section.

Though sex ads on Craigslist are the most salacious example of the debate over free speech on the Internet, it is a battle being waged across the Web. Yelp, the review site for local businesses, has been repeatedly sued by small businesses for what its users write. The suits have been dismissed by courts citing the Communications Decency Act or withdrawn by defendants once they learned about Web sites’ immunity, said Vince Sollitto, a Yelp spokesman.

Some Internet law experts say the issue strikes at the heart of free speech. “For the government to intervene in Internet communication, it has to do that very carefully,” said Margaret M. Russell, a law professor at Santa Clara University in California. “The ultimate goal, public safety, is really important, but these are venues of free speech communication. They’re not conspirators in crimes.”

The erotic services categories are still accessible on Craigslist sites outside the United States, and the personals section of the site is still active. Craigslist has said that if it takes down the “adult services” section, sex ads will simply migrate to other parts of the site.

Doubts about whether the block on the sex ads section is permanent are fueled by the prospect of Craigslist losing a significant amount of money. The ads, which cost $10 to post and $5 to repost, are expected to bring in $44.4 million this year, about a third of Craigslist’s annual revenue, according to the Advanced Interactive Media Group.

Still, it is difficult to predict the motives of the company, which employs about 30 people and operates in a quirky, opaque and at times petulant manner.

“It would surprise me if they didn’t try to find a workable solution to reintroduce some of that income,” said M. Ryan Calo, a senior research fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “Although, that said, Craigslist is not your typical company in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be exclusively motivated by profit.”

Louise Story contributed reporting from New York.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129614349

HONOLULU September 3, 2010

Six recruiters were accused Thursday of luring 400 laborers from Thailand to the United States and forcing them to work, according to a federal indictment that the FBI called the largest human-trafficking case ever charged in U.S. history.

The indictment alleges that the scheme was orchestrated by four employees of labor recruiting company Global Horizons Manpower Inc. and two Thailand-based recruiters. It said the recruiters lured the workers with false promises of lucrative jobs, then confiscated their passports, failed to honor their employment contracts and threatened to deport them.

Once the Thai laborers arrived in the United States starting in May 2004, they were put to work and have since been sent to sites in states including Hawaii, Washington, California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, according to attorneys and advocates.

Many laborers were initially taken to farms in Hawaii and Washington, where work conditions were the worst, said Chancee Martorell, executive director for the Los Angeles-based Thai Community Development Center, which represents 263 Thai workers who were brought to the U.S. by Global Horizons.

A woman who answered the phone at Global Horizons' Los Angeles office refused to take a message seeking comment Thursday.

The six defendants include Global Horizons President and CEO Mordechai Orian, 45; Director of International Relations Pranee Tubchumpol, 44; Hawaii regional supervisor Shane Germann, 41; and onsite field supervisor Sam Wongsesanit, 39. The Thailand recruiters were identified as Ratawan Chunharutai and Podjanee Sinchai.

They face maximum sentences ranging from five years to 70 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

Orian wasn't home when the FBI attempted to arrest him in Los Angeles on Thursday, but his surrender is being negotiated, said FBI Special Agent Tom Simon. Orian's attorney, Alan Diamante, didn't return a phone message seeking comment.

Two were arrested Thursday morning in Los Angeles and Fargo, N.D., said Simon. Another Global Horizons employee was expected to turn himself in, and the United States will work with Thailand's government to apprehend the remaining two suspects.

"In the old days, they used to keep slaves in their places with whips and chains. Today it's done with economic threats and intimidation," Simon said.

Honolulu immigration attorney Melissa Vincenty said the indictment against Global Horizons is a major blow to labor trafficking nationwide.

"Global was the big fish in all of this. It's a pretty big case, with hundreds and hundreds of workers," said Vincenty, who represents 56 of the Thai laborers. "They're all over the United States."

• August 25th, 2010 1:52 pm ET
• By Jim Kouri, Public Safety Examiner
• http://www.examiner.com/public-safety-in-national/nj-pimp-prostituted-children-on-craigslist-and-casinos

A child sex trafficker pled guilty Friday to transporting two minor girls across state lines in support of a prostitution enterprise he ran in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

Javon Gordon, 28, a.k.a. “Teflon,” of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler to two counts of an Indictment charging him with transporting the minors across state lines to work as prostitutes for him.

Gordon admitted that from September 2007 until July 2008, he operated a prostitution enterprise in and around Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gordon acted as a “pimp,” employing both minor girls and adult women to work for him as prostitutes.

He admitted to controlling the activities of the women and girls working for him, including requiring them to give him any money they made from performing sexual acts on customers.

Three minor girls recruited by Gordon solicited prostitution clients on the streets and in the casinos of Atlantic City as well as on the Internet. Gordon used a digital camera to take naked, partially-naked and sexually suggestive pictures of the minor girls, then posted the images on various websites, including Craigslist and others, in an effort to advertise prostitution services. Gordon also used Craigslist to assist in his efforts to recruit girls to work for him as prostitutes.

Gordon also admitted to traveling from the Atlantic City area to Philadelphia in order to pick up a minor girl and bring her back to Atlantic City to work as a prostitute. In addition, Gordon admitted to transporting an adult female and a minor girl between the Boston and Atlantic City areas to work as prostitutes.

Each count of the transportation of minors for the purpose of prostitution carries a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and a mandatory minimum term of five years of supervised release. Gordon is scheduled to be sentenced on November 22, 2010.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for The Examiner (examiner.com) and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/yahoolatestnews/stories/082010dnmetpride.2ed50c7.html

After Hurricane Katrina , New Orleans native Mary Mathieu ended up in Dallas, where she struggled with a life of drugs and prostitution.

But she was offered a chance at recovery: Complete a year of comprehensive rehabilitation under the supervision of a Dallas "divert court" and the misdemeanor prostitution charge against her could be dismissed.

On Thursday, the 50-year-old donned a cap and gown for a unique Dallas County court date. After completing the program, she was honored by a judge, a cop and numerous other former prostitutes who hope to follow her lead.

"You should be proud of yourself," said Judge Peggy Hoffman, who presides over PRIDE (Positive Recovery Intensive Divert Experience) Court. "Hopefully you lift your head up high, you say you are an independent, wonderful, beautiful woman and human being."

Mathieu's success is the ultimate goal of a years-long effort by area law enforcement and social service organizations to treat prostitutes as victims rather than criminals. The Prostitution Diversion Initiative offers women facing prostitution charges the option to go through rehabilitation, often as part of or instead of a criminal sentence.

One night every month, Dallas authorities erect a staging area, usually near southern Dallas truck stops. Officers make arrests for prostitution and other crimes, but the women don't necessarily go straight to jail.

They can get a full health screening on site and are given the chance to commit to rehabilitation under supervision of PRIDE or another similar court. Other women who aren't picked up during the monthly operations can be introduced to the program in jail. That's where Mathieu found out about Hoffman's court.

"I was on drugs, my life was down, was going to waste, I wasn't on my medication," Mathieu said. "The court came in my life and helped me out. I got my strength and my energy back, and I feel better, I look good," she said to a roar of laughter and applause.

For Mathieu and many others, it can be a long and difficult journey, with relapses along the way. In the PRIDE Court, funded in part by a $350,000 federal grant, Hoffman can order the women to complete jail time, more stringent counseling and even essay assignments.

The program includes drug rehabilitation, transitional housing and job training. Mathieu now works concessions at American Airlines Center and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and hopes to move into her own apartment soon.

Ultimately, Hoffman hopes to see the more than a dozen women currently in her court follow a path similar to Mathieu's.

"This has been probably the most rewarding part of being a judge," Hoffman said.

It's also rewarding for Dallas police Sgt. Louis Felini, the founder of the Prostitution Diversion Initiative. Felini admits he may seem like an unlikely advocate for the women, considering the typical police approach to prostitution.

"Mary, I know you probably never thought that cops would be coming to your graduation in support of you and what you've accomplished," Felini said. "But it is with great respect and admiration that I stand here. On behalf of myself and the cops out on the street, we truly wish all of you all the very best."

Prosecutors: Illegal immigrants rescued from Houston sex-trafficking operation

http://www.khou.com/news/Prosecutors-Man-accused-of-prostituting--101111429.html
by khou.com staff

khou.com

Posted on August 19, 2010 at 5:03 PM

HOUSTON – Two people were arrested and several women rescued from a life of prostitution Wednesday following an investigation by the Human Trafficking Resource Alliance, U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno said Thursday.

Pedro Corporan Cedano, a 38-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic, was arrested Wednesday during a traffic stop near his Deer Park home.

Cedano was charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

Prosecutors believe Cedano used several apartments in and around Houston and Pasadena to promote and provide commercial sex.

The alleged prostitutes were illegal immigrants, some of whom were paying off smuggling fees by selling sex, prosecutors said.

On Thursday, Carmen Angeles, 33, was charged with harboring illegal aliens. Angeles was arrested Wednesday at one of the apartments used by Cedano on Goodson Drive, investigators said.

According to the official criminal complaint, Angeles knowingly harbored two illegal immigrants at the apartment, where they engaged in prostitution.

Cedano was being held in federal custody pending an August 23 bond hearing.

Angeles is expected to make her initial court appearance on August 20.

Prosecutors said a total of nine women were found in the apartments controlled by Cedano.

The women were placed in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement / Homeland Security Investigations and will likely be designated as material witnesses in the case.

Cedano could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

Angeles could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of harboring illegal aliens.