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10-16-2007, 05:20 PM
JS Online: Officials say no to escort license (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=674885)
City of Pewaukee - City officials slammed the door Monday night on an escort services permit application from a Hartland woman charged with being a prostitute at her home.
Tonya May Karimi, 31, who police say advertised her services on Craigslist, asked city officials to legitimize her operation by granting her an escort license.
A criminal complaint against Karimi alleges she used an online pitch offering "pure pleasure" at rates ranging from $100 to $250.
City officials enacted what they termed a precautionary ordinance about a year ago that prohibited escort services without a permit. Karimi became the city's first applicant, paying the $250 application fee on Sept. 21, said Clerk/Treasurer Kelly Tarczewski.
A person who obtains an escort license here must be fingerprinted, provide information on all convictions, including municipal ordinance violations, and explain any pending criminal charges, according to the code. The license would be valid for one year, and the person may not advertise services as being licensed by the city.
On Monday, City Attorney H. Stanley Riffle told aldermen they had no authority to grant Karimi a license because the ordinance precludes anyone with a criminal case pending against them. Karimi, who attended Monday's meeting but did not speak, attracted police attention in August, and was charged earlier this month with prostitution.
Authorities allege she offered sex for money to an undercover detective at her home in August. She is to make her initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Oct. 31.
Also in August, she received a ticket here accusing her of operating an escort service without a license at a hotel. Police say that on Aug. 2, an undercover City of Pewaukee police officer set up a meeting with Karimi at a hotel. When she named what she would do and gave her price, she was arrested on suspicion of failure to have an escort license.
That case is scheduled in Municipal Court here Nov. 21, according to a court clerk.
Karimi is accused of having advertised her service on Craigslist. An Oconomowoc detective saw the ad, which listed Hartland as her home, and informed the Hartland Police Department.
That agency requested assistance from the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, which provided the undercover detective who set up what authorities allege was to be a sexual encounter.
The detective and Karimi settled on a meeting Aug. 13 during which she would provide sex for $200, the complaint says. When he arrived at her home that night, Karimi explained that she'd been selling herself for about two months "to make her mortgage payments," it says.
After Karimi confirmed the arrangements that had been made, other officers arrested her, says the complaint.
Mayor Scott Klein said he was surprised by the amount of attention given to the city's escort license because it was modeled after ordinances in Brookfield and New Berlin.
Klein said he believes there are legitimate escort services and that the city enacted the ordinance because the police wanted another way to regulate problems in hotels.
Monday night, Ald. H. Robert Hathaway urged the ordinance soon be repealed. Said Hathaway, "I don't think that puts a very good reflection on the City of Pewaukee."http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=8UqX9goq</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=8UqX9goq) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=PMsgvz4T</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=PMsgvz4T) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=zlksUfWv</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=zlksUfWv) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=N9nWkCI8</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=N9nWkCI8) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=NTcxk84L</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=NTcxk84L)
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City of Pewaukee - City officials slammed the door Monday night on an escort services permit application from a Hartland woman charged with being a prostitute at her home.
Tonya May Karimi, 31, who police say advertised her services on Craigslist, asked city officials to legitimize her operation by granting her an escort license.
A criminal complaint against Karimi alleges she used an online pitch offering "pure pleasure" at rates ranging from $100 to $250.
City officials enacted what they termed a precautionary ordinance about a year ago that prohibited escort services without a permit. Karimi became the city's first applicant, paying the $250 application fee on Sept. 21, said Clerk/Treasurer Kelly Tarczewski.
A person who obtains an escort license here must be fingerprinted, provide information on all convictions, including municipal ordinance violations, and explain any pending criminal charges, according to the code. The license would be valid for one year, and the person may not advertise services as being licensed by the city.
On Monday, City Attorney H. Stanley Riffle told aldermen they had no authority to grant Karimi a license because the ordinance precludes anyone with a criminal case pending against them. Karimi, who attended Monday's meeting but did not speak, attracted police attention in August, and was charged earlier this month with prostitution.
Authorities allege she offered sex for money to an undercover detective at her home in August. She is to make her initial appearance in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Oct. 31.
Also in August, she received a ticket here accusing her of operating an escort service without a license at a hotel. Police say that on Aug. 2, an undercover City of Pewaukee police officer set up a meeting with Karimi at a hotel. When she named what she would do and gave her price, she was arrested on suspicion of failure to have an escort license.
That case is scheduled in Municipal Court here Nov. 21, according to a court clerk.
Karimi is accused of having advertised her service on Craigslist. An Oconomowoc detective saw the ad, which listed Hartland as her home, and informed the Hartland Police Department.
That agency requested assistance from the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, which provided the undercover detective who set up what authorities allege was to be a sexual encounter.
The detective and Karimi settled on a meeting Aug. 13 during which she would provide sex for $200, the complaint says. When he arrived at her home that night, Karimi explained that she'd been selling herself for about two months "to make her mortgage payments," it says.
After Karimi confirmed the arrangements that had been made, other officers arrested her, says the complaint.
Mayor Scott Klein said he was surprised by the amount of attention given to the city's escort license because it was modeled after ordinances in Brookfield and New Berlin.
Klein said he believes there are legitimate escort services and that the city enacted the ordinance because the police wanted another way to regulate problems in hotels.
Monday night, Ald. H. Robert Hathaway urged the ordinance soon be repealed. Said Hathaway, "I don't think that puts a very good reflection on the City of Pewaukee."http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=8UqX9goq</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=8UqX9goq) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=PMsgvz4T</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=PMsgvz4T) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=zlksUfWv</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=zlksUfWv) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=N9nWkCI8</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=N9nWkCI8) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?i=NTcxk84L</img> (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=NTcxk84L)
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