NewsWhore
04-11-2007, 02:50 PM
Sex via website hits close to home in Brooklyn Park (http://www.startribune.com/467/story/1112790.html)
Brooklyn Park police say they've busted a brothel of young women who advertised on the popular website Craigslist.com (http://craigslist.com/) to sell sex in a house across the street from a day-care center.Rochelle A. Persaud, 19, was charged Monday with two counts of solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution. Three others were arrested, too, including a 16-year-old girl, but they have yet to be charged, police said.
In all, Persaud had eight other women and teenagers prostituting since Jan. 1 out of the house, which they all used as their legal address, according to police and a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court. Persaud rented the house.
Across the nation, police are beginning to surf websites such as Craigslist to target prostitutes, according to published reports.
This was the first known case of an Internet prostitution ring in Brooklyn Park, where prostitution has previously not been a problem, said police Capt. Greg Roehl.
"What it shows," Roehl said, "is just the different means of communication we have. It changes our society and it changes the criminal element, too. They used to have to go to a certain place and hook up on the street. Now they can go to a website where they're advertising."
Still, the location in a residential area makes the case unusual, he said.
"People have a different tolerance for certain crimes, depending where it's happen- ing. ..." Roehl said. "When it's in a neighborhood right next door, that just seems to make it a little worse."
Tuesday evening, neighbors said they had noticed a lot of vehicles and people coming and going from the split- level house in the 8300 block of Idaho Avenue N. at all hours.
"This is the first big hoopla," in the neighborhood, said Jessie Massicotte, who runs the Little Hands Daycare Center out of her home across the street from Persaud's house.
The prostitution allegations "make me sick to my stomach," Massicotte said, adding that a school bus stop is right in front of the house.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=D5WJ3Ly7</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=D5WJ3Ly7) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=dbav7LXD</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=dbav7LXD) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=IJOVSddZ</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=IJOVSddZ) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=V0BzV6FH</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=V0BzV6FH)
More... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Sxxxyorg/~3/108308079/sex-via-website-hits-close-to-home-in.html)
Brooklyn Park police say they've busted a brothel of young women who advertised on the popular website Craigslist.com (http://craigslist.com/) to sell sex in a house across the street from a day-care center.Rochelle A. Persaud, 19, was charged Monday with two counts of solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution. Three others were arrested, too, including a 16-year-old girl, but they have yet to be charged, police said.
In all, Persaud had eight other women and teenagers prostituting since Jan. 1 out of the house, which they all used as their legal address, according to police and a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court. Persaud rented the house.
Across the nation, police are beginning to surf websites such as Craigslist to target prostitutes, according to published reports.
This was the first known case of an Internet prostitution ring in Brooklyn Park, where prostitution has previously not been a problem, said police Capt. Greg Roehl.
"What it shows," Roehl said, "is just the different means of communication we have. It changes our society and it changes the criminal element, too. They used to have to go to a certain place and hook up on the street. Now they can go to a website where they're advertising."
Still, the location in a residential area makes the case unusual, he said.
"People have a different tolerance for certain crimes, depending where it's happen- ing. ..." Roehl said. "When it's in a neighborhood right next door, that just seems to make it a little worse."
Tuesday evening, neighbors said they had noticed a lot of vehicles and people coming and going from the split- level house in the 8300 block of Idaho Avenue N. at all hours.
"This is the first big hoopla," in the neighborhood, said Jessie Massicotte, who runs the Little Hands Daycare Center out of her home across the street from Persaud's house.
The prostitution allegations "make me sick to my stomach," Massicotte said, adding that a school bus stop is right in front of the house.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=D5WJ3Ly7</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=D5WJ3Ly7) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=dbav7LXD</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=dbav7LXD) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=IJOVSddZ</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=IJOVSddZ) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=V0BzV6FH</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=V0BzV6FH)
More... (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Sxxxyorg/~3/108308079/sex-via-website-hits-close-to-home-in.html)