Every weekday, Kansas.com's Wichita Crime Maps show you all the crimes reported yesterday across Wichita, and every crime reported in your neighborhood for the past week. See them here.
e-mail
print
RSS
reprint
AIM
Digg it
del.icio.usProstitution sting began with Craigslist
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
This was a South Broadway sting with a twist.
Eight women were arrested Monday evening on 13 different offenses, including several sex crimes.
The sting was set up after detectives took a look at postings on Craigslist.org, a classified and forum site.
"Some of the women were familiar to us" because they had been arrested in the past for prostitution, said Capt. John Speer, commander of the Patrol South Bureau.
"We contacted these women and set up a meeting," Speer said. "These women negotiated for sex during the meeting, and were then arrested and booked" into jail.
The women were arrested on suspicion of offenses ranging from prostitution to possession of drug paraphernalia and sodomy for hire, police said.
Police said the Web site did not break any laws. And escort services are legal in Wichita as long as they are licensed.
Suspects are advertising online through escort services, and then offer sex acts once they meet clients in person, Speer said.
The idea to search Craigslist came from a seminar that detectives attended.
"It is the first time we've actually gone and investigated these Internet postings," he said.
Reach Stan Finger at 316-268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com.
