Five women were charged with sex crimes relating to prostitution after a sting investigation discovered a scheme using the online site Backpage.com. The women were arrested as a result of a Kingston investigation.
Two women were charged Thursday, July 14, and three other women were charged earlier in the week. This was the second time this week charges have been filed as a result of the Kingston prostitution investigation.
According to law enforcement officers in Kingston, the North Carolina women were posting their sexual services online. When the women agreed to exchange sexual acts for money, they were picked up as they met the man with whom they thought they spoke with online. Instead, the women were arrested by an undercover officer who posed as the online client.
All five prostitution suspects are from North Carolina cities including Asheville and Swannanoa. It’s unclear if the women were part of a larger prostitution operation or whether the five women are unrelated. The online posting of the two women most recently arrested noted that they were willing to travel between Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina for their “clients.”
Online sex crimes stings are common. As more women and men rely on online posting for illicit acts, police agencies are ramping up their undercover officers to enforce laws against prostitution.
Source: Times News “More NC Women Cited for Prostitution in Kingsport,” Rain Smith, 7/14/2011