Columbus John School Attorney

Update:  Carl Ferrer, CEO of Backpage.com Arrested in a Prostitution Sting

As reported here on Ohiolaw.net over the last year, Columbus Police are using a prostituion sting to get people who use backpage.com to hire sex workers.  Now, the heads of Backpage.com itself are charged with "pimping,"  according to an article in the Dallas News.   Until now, Police have been changing focus on to the customers (johns), but now they seem to be targeting Backpage.com itself because of advertising sex trafficking or human trafficking.  In the old days, it seems only the sex workers were being arrested, by no more.

Two Backpage shareholders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, also have been charged with conspiracy to commit pimping in a prostitution sting, reported the Dallas News.

Man Subject to prostitution sting arrest

Have you been involved in a prostitution sting ?  Over the last year we at Wolfe Legal Services have received many calls and represented people successfully - protecting people's families who were involved in these arrests.   The prostitution sting is part of a larger effort to call all prostitution as "sex trafficking" or "human trafficking."  While there are cases of people compelled into sex work against their will, not every prostitute or sex worker is a victim.   We at Wolfe Legal Services represent people who can be found not guilty of soliciting, human trafficking, and sex trafficking.  Guilty and Not Guilty suspects can also enter into John School in many cases and we can eventually get their charges dismissed and expunged (sealed).   You should get an attorney to maximize your chances at being accepted to John School and eventually getting an Expungement.  Since many employers view this a sexually oriented offense, it is important not to have a sex offense on your record.

Vice News' Rebecca Leib reported recently:  "I love what I do," Hilary Holiday, a Minneapolis-based escort, told me. "I'm very choosy as to who I will spend time with and require copious amounts of respect. I turn most away. I make a good six-figure income and trade options with the savings I've built."

On the other hand, "those who feel bound to sex work for financial reasons are often looked down upon. They're also less free to pursue other forms of work, and as a result, feel resentment toward their jobs," reported Vice News.  Other sex workers might be addicted to drugs or even kidnapped from other countries, which would be a bad thing.  Some sex workers might be paid with drugs or present a danger to you.

Police in Columbus and nearby continue to arrest both sex workers and johns or the customers of sex workers.

If you are a customer, or john, wanting to get a hooker, you could easily be arrested in a sting operation like Carl Ferrer, CEO of Backpage.com, or you could also be harming an involuntary sex worker.  

The way the prostitution sting operation works in Columbus, an undercover officer posts some sexy photos with lingerie, usually advertising that she's leaving town in a few days to go back to college, and needs extra money for books.  Text messages will be exchanged, in order to preserve evidence for the case instead of voice calls.  The police officer will deny being the police, even if asked, because police can lie as part of arresting people in a sting operation.  Even the posts online say "no police" or words to that effect.  A meeting is set up at a hotel, and when the victim arrives, he (usually a male) is asked "what he wants" and to put the money down on the counter.  A hidden camera records the audio, the person putting the money down, and even in some cases the man taking off his pants.  Then, the police swoop in and you are arrested in a sting operation.

If you are considering paying for companionship, which is not agaisnt the law in Ohio, you must confine the transaction to companionship and avoid explicitly paying for any sex act.  You never know when you are being recorded as part of being arrested in a prostitution sting operation.

If you ever were convicted or charged with prostitution, promoting prostitution, sex trafficking, or any crm