prostitution

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Backpage Prostitution Case Brings Mixed Verdicts

Founder Michael Lacey is convicted of a single financial count

(Newser) - A jury was unable to reach a verdict on 84 counts against Michael Lacey, the founder of Backpage.com—a site prosecutors say was set up to profit from prostitution —but nevertheless convicted him of a money-laundering charge. Two former executives were found guilty of using the site to...

Feds Bust 'High-End' DC-Area Brothels With Politician Clients

Execs, military officers also among alleged clients

(Newser) - "Pick a profession, they're probably represented in this case." Those were the words of a federal prosecutor in reference to what CNN describes as the "sprawling client list" of a network of high-end brothels operated in the Washington, DC, area as well as in Massachusetts. Those...

Disney Workers Among 108 Arrested in 'Operation March Sadness 2'

Florida sting operation targeted prostitution, human trafficking

(Newser) - A sheriff's office in Florida says 108 people were arrested, including a retired judge and several Disney employees, during a sting operation to combat human trafficking, prostitution, and child sexual abuse. Most of those busted in "Operation March Sadness 2" were arrested for seeking a prostitute or "...

Tennessee Mom at Center of a 'Difficult and Shocking' Case

Melissa Blair is accused of trading items like vape pens to teen boys for sexual favors

(Newser) - A Tennessee mom who was an active parent at a local school is accused of being a little too active, allegedly trading items to teen boys for sexual favors. Law & Crime reports that 38-year-old Melissa Blair has been indicted for charges including statutory rape, after allegedly making contact with...

Mayor Who Was Worried About Ice Shanties Resigns

Craig Shubert of Hudson, Ohio, suggested they would lead to prostitution

(Newser) - Update: The mayor is out after his odd comment about ice shanties. Mayor Craig Shubert of Hudson, Ohio, resigned Monday after taking all kinds of grief for expressing his view that if the city allowed ice fishing, that would lead to ice shanties, and those would lead to prostitution. “...

OnlyFans' Creators Are 'Violated,' Not Empowered
Call OnlyFans
What It Is—a 'Pimp'
OPINION

Call OnlyFans What It Is—a 'Pimp'

Lawyer Catherine MacKinnon says creators on the site are 'violated,' not empowered

(Newser) - When OnlyFans announced a ban on explicit content , the ACLU warned it was stigmatizing sex work, "making workers less safe." The subscription site's decision to reverse the ban was therefore applauded on many fronts. But not by Catherine MacKinnon. "It is the sex industry that makes...

She Escaped Her Pimp, but Still Had Access to Prostitutes

Inside Megan Lundstrom's journey from the streets to academia

(Newser) - Her pimp "shot seven bullets into my nanny’s car, then called and told me next time it wouldn’t be a car that gets shot." It took Megan Lundstrom a full two years to get out, but she managed to escape him—by aligning with another pimp....

Prosecutor Changes Policy on Sex Worker Cases
Manhattan Drops
Prostitution Cases

Manhattan Drops Prostitution Cases

Vance changes policy on prosecuting sex workers

(Newser) - Prostitution and unlicensed massage criminal cases will no longer be prosecuted in Manhattan, the district attorney announced Wednesday, joining a national trend. "Over the last decade we've learned from those with lived experience," Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement, "and from our own experience on...

Amsterdam Plans to Move Red Light District

Sex workers will be shifted to new 'erotic zone' away from the city center

(Newser) - Dutch lawmakers have given the green light to plans to move sex workers away from Amsterdam's famous red light district. City councilors from several parties supported Mayor Femke Halsema's proposal to move brothels from the alleyways of the city center, where tourists often stopped to gawk at women...

Berlin's Reopened Brothels May Disappoint

Erotic massages are allowed, but sex isn't permitted until September

(Newser) - Berlin's brothels are back open for the first time in five months, but there's a caveat: No sex allowed. While prostitution is legal in Germany, sex acts remain banned until September under coronavirus restrictions, reports AFP . At this point, clients—required to wear a mask and provide contact...

Accuser: Bill Clinton Was With 2 'Young Girls'
Accuser: Bill Clinton
Was With 2 'Young Girls'
the rundown

Accuser: Bill Clinton Was With 2 'Young Girls'

'Orgies were a constant thing,' says Virginia Giuffre

(Newser) - Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accuser says she once saw Bill Clinton with "two young girls" on an island used for sex orgies, Newsweek reports. In newly unsealed court documents, Virginia Giuffre responds to a lawyer who asked whether she recalled Epstein talking about the former president owing him...

Switzerland to Sex Workers: You'll Need to Social Distance

Nation gives OK to prostitutes but still prohibits judo, boxing, wrestling, ballroom dancing

(Newser) - If you're a sex worker in Switzerland, you'll soon be back in business. If you're a judo, ballroom dancing, or boxing aficionado, you're going to have to wait a little longer. Bloomberg reports that the country's legal prostitution industry will be permitted to reopen on...

College President Arrested in 'Dark Web' Prostitution Sting

William Bynum Jr. has resigned from Jackson State University

(Newser) - William Bynum Jr., president of Jackson State University, has resigned after being arrested in a prostitution sting over the weekend. Mississippi state trustees met Monday to discuss choosing an interim leader. Bynum is charged with procuring the services of a prostitute, false statement of identity and possession of marijuana. He...

Notorious Utah Madame's Interview Eludes Historians

Reporter's old shorthand remains a mystery

(Newser) - Scholars at a Utah university are trying to unlock a mystery after discovering a nearly 70-year-old transcript of an interview with a notorious figure in Ogden history, the AP reports. The interview was with madam Rossette Duccinni Davie, who ran the Rose Rooms brothel with her husband in the 1940s...

Lawyer's Other Job Is at a Nevada Brothel

Des Moines attorney wants to change laws, attitudes

(Newser) - Like a lot of people, Katherine Sears has a side hustle. The Des Moines lawyer doesn't drive an Uber or deliver pizza. Her other job is in a brothel in Nevada. "I like sex," she says. "Sex is fun, and I can get paid for it....

In New York, an Effort to Decriminalize Sex Work

'Sex work is work and should not be criminalized'

(Newser) - Some Democratic lawmakers hope to see New York become the first state to decriminalize sex work. "Anything that involved children or coercion are things that we feel very strongly need to remain in the penal code," but "sex work is work and should not be criminalized by...

Rapper Charged With Felony Human Trafficking

Sosamann is accused of forcing women to become sex workers

(Newser) - A rapper was arrested in LA earlier this month after women nabbed in a prostitution sting accused him of human trafficking, TMZ reports. According to authorities, he took two women to California with promises of big dreams and forced them to become prostitutes. Site XXL confirms that Sosamann, who has...

Kraft's Reported Convo With Cop Who Stopped Him: Dolphins

As in Miami team, which prosecutors say 'polite' Kraft mentioned while showing Super Bowl ring

(Newser) - What do you do when you're pulled over by the cops after leaving a day spa where you allegedly paid for sex? If the latest reports on Robert Kraft are accurate, you talk football and show off your Super Bowl ring. That's according to Florida prosecutors cited by...

Spa Customers Videotaped in Kraft Case Sue Authorities

They say the surveillance was unlawful

(Newser) - Nearly three dozen men and women have filed a federal class-action lawsuit accusing Florida authorities of unlawfully videotaping them as they received legal massages at a parlor where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others allegedly paid for sex. The lawsuit by 31 John and Jane Does alleges that...

Prosecutors Threaten New Move in Kraft Sex Case

That means releasing footage from a Florida spa

(Newser) - You may soon be watching video of Robert Kraft engaging in sex acts with alleged prostitutes at a Florida spa—if prosecutors follow through on their plan to release it, the Boston Globe reports. The Palm Beach County state attorney's office argued Wednesday in court papers that it can'...

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