Sheriff: Officers Must Have Sex With Prostitutes For Evidence

[Renew Deal]

POSTED: 10:44 am EST February 14, 2006

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. -- Undercover sex is getting the OK from a Virginia sheriff.

Spotsylvania County Sheriff Howard Smith said he stands by the practice of allowing detectives to receive sexual services in the course of their investigations so they can catch suspects in the act.

Court documents show that four times last month, county detectives allowed women at a massage parlor to perform sex acts on them. In one case, a lawman left a $350 tip. Smith acknowledged the practice is not new.

Smith told The Washington Post that only unmarried detectives are allowed to do the under-the-covers work.

He said actual sex acts are needed to help win prostitution convictions.
<snip>

http://www.local6.com/news/7043931/detail.html

Apply for a job as a Spotsylvania County Sheriff at: http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/departments/sheriff/index.cfm?doc_id=500

[Selatius]

1. This is an absolute waste of resources

Why not go after child molesters, rapists, murderers, etc.? Not prostitutes.

[Renew Deal]

7. I don't think this idea will work with children so well.

:evilgrin:

[atreides1]

8. Would you really want them too

Especially if they use the same justification for those crimes as they use for arresting prostitutes?

[Selatius]

10. Man, I worded my post awkwardly

But I think you get the general idea of what I was aiming at.

[kurth]

34. Maybe they're just doing quality control checks

under the guise of law enforcement.

[Reverend Smoothfield]

50. I'm pretty sure they do go after murderers.

You know. As well.

Good point, though.

[ThomCat]

2. Um...

arresting them afterwards sort of negates the good tip.

[arcane1]

3. because it's Virginia

they don't like happy endings

[Beetwasher]

4. Are They Accepting Job Applications?

:evilgrin:

Good work if you can "get it".

[dubya_dubya_III]

53. Now I'm absolutely sure I picked the wrong day job....

[LincolnMcGrath]

68. LOL Who can help me with my Resume!

[Yavin4]

5. To Quote John McEnroe: "You Cannot be Serious!"

Prostitution laws are a friggin joke. If you want to eliminate under-age prostitutes, abused women, pimps, and international sex trades, then make prostitution legal. Put the money incentive on running a legal brothel, and all of these other problems will go away.

If you need an example, look at porn. When it was illegal, all kinds of shady things were going on. However, since it was made legal, it's cleaned up its act big-time.

[Che_Nuevara]

12. Not at all true.

You ever heard of 'scrag'? It's when you rape somebody, tape it, and put it on the internet. Child pornography is also still HUGE. In the major porn manufacturers there is little problem, but the little guys on the side are as bad as ever.

[daleo]

22. Rape someone and put the evidence on the internet?

It doesn't seem likely, unless the rapist's features are never shown. But, strange things happen when it comes to anything involving sex or sexual crimes.

[Yavin4]

41. I Would Differ

Child porn is far more easily prosecutable today than ever before BECAUSE of the legalization of porn. Even on the internet, it's rare and difficult to find such links.

Keeping these vices illegal does not make them go away. It just forces them underground where the financial incentive will be on the most extreme stuff.

[regnaD kciN]

6. It seems to me...

...that the next thing the detective would need to do is arrest himself for procurement.

[Sal316]

9. I thought this was AZ at first....

...Sheriff Joke had something like this going on a year or two ago.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Virginia Is For F*ckers

Sounds like a bad B-movie tagline: When the men come, the women go ... to jail!

--p!

[Renew Deal]

13. lol

I love the tagline. :rofl:

[Trillo]

18. Does this offer 'training' to some females

to lead up to something, but then draw back at the end, increasing the cultural tease factor?

(this is NOT meant as a rhetorical, just food for thought)

[Dogmudgeon]

29. Imagine the Vice Squad vs. the Rape Squad

That would almost be good enough for Comedy Central™.

--p!
Spread 'em!

[LynnTheDem]

21. ROTFLMAO!!!

:rofl:

[Roland99]

14. Uh, isn't that coercion or entrapment?

Is this actually a crime then???


This just doesn't seem right at all!

[VaYallaDawg]

15. What an embarrassment for our state!!!

I saw this thing in the paper this morning and almost choked on my coffee. I cannot believe that even the antedeluvian supreme court of VA will allow this craziness to stand. It's almost like telling the narcs they have to smoke pot in order to arrest the drug dealers.

However, it IS Virginia - and things are different here. We just got over the spectacle of one of our nutjob GOP state legislators firing off a gun in the capitol building, and here we go with this lunacy. Anytime Molly Ivins thinks Texas has a corner on the filbert-farm market, she needs to spend a few days here!

[arcane1]

31. I'm still shocked that there is a massage parlour in Spottsylvania!

during my many drives through that town, I never would've guessed at such a thing

[VaYallaDawg]

66. You never know what's lurking beneath those calm storefronts, do you?

I travel frequently betw. Richmond and Roanoke down Rt. 460 - right outside Roanoke near the little village of Montvale, there's a rundown looking bldg that I thought for years was just an old abandoned gas station. I found out later that lo and behold it's one of the best known houses of ill-repute in that part of the state!

[Richard D]

16. They're just . . .

. . . trying to recruit more sheriffs.
(joking of course)

[ovidsen]

17. Legal?? Highly dubious!

The Washington Post broke this story yesterday (Monday, Feb. 13)

The paper hosted a moderated chat on the legality and ethics of this tactic. It's an eye opener.

You can read it here.

[LynnTheDem]

19. ROTFL!!!

Too frigging funny!

Stupid.

But funny!

[Judi Lynn]

20. Why do they say regularly on the tv "Cops" program that what is needed

is for the prostitute to verbally name the act and price?

Whoo! These Virginia cops could save themselves a lot of HARD work!

[VaYallaDawg]

23. Tsk, tsk, tsk Judi!

Now go wash your hands and spray lysol on your keyboard.

[LynnTheDem]

24. ROTFLMAO!!!

Stop it already, I'm cryin' for laughin'!

:rofl:

[JudyM]

69. TV news reports women didn't speak English, so cops had to go all the way.

They weren't able to get the goods on 'em otherwise. Apparently they got the evidence they needed on another establishment this way and closed that case successfully. This sheriff is a little off his nut...

[LynnTheDem]

25. It's legal to (over)charge for WATER and AIR...

but illegal to charge for sex.

That's just really fucked up. Ya know?

[LisaL]

26. My god! There is no sacrifice too great that these cops won't do

to uphold the law.

[mitchum]

28. "To Serve and Project"

[LynnTheDem]

35. Who is upholding what?

Heh.

[mitchum]

27. I guess it's a perk of the job....it's still fuckin' incredible, though

[noamnety]

30. So the tax payers are paying for cops' blowjobs?

Why do I get the feeling we're going to find out in a few months they have a special grant from homeland security for this program?

[LynnTheDem]

36. LOL!!!

Too funny.

[951-Riverside]

32. Phone number [phone] email [e-mail]

This isnt funny at all

Let this creep know how you feel also if you live in the community try to start an effort to get this thug out of office.

Not only is he putting his officers and their families in danger of contracting various STD's he's clearly encouraging his officers to break the law on top of further victimizing these prostitutes, what if one of these prostitutes happens to be under-aged?

[951-Riverside]

38. I'm sorry but Its not funny

Just because they are not married doesnt mean that they somehow immune to the plethera of diseases out there and I've just emailed the sheriff to let him know that.

By the way if you want to call him follow these instructions
At the main menu press *(Star) wait 4 secs then press #(Pound) to enter the last name of the person you would like to reach enter (76484) for Smith then press #.

[951-Riverside]

40. You can contact Gov. Tim Kaine (D) office @ [phone] or email...

using this form: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm

[phusion]

33. hahahahaaha

Does this mean they can start injecting meth and snorting coke, too?

[HuffleClaw]

37. only unmarried detectives are allowed to do the under-the-covers work

hahahahahahahahahahahahah

[michreject]

39. I wonder

if there will be a women's division to catch men trying to solicit women. She would have to complete the act as well in order to convict?

Hope she don't put in an 8 hour shift.

[MichiganVote]

42. So what do they do with the gay massage parlors?

[951-Riverside]

43. Gay or not will the Officers be forced to engage in these activities?

I might just call Deputy "Smith" again and ask but I doubt he's in the mood for talking after my last message.

[MichiganVote]

44. Well yeah, I mean don't they have to have sex with the gay guys

who prostitute even if they're straight? Wouldn't the female prostitutes claim discrimination? And what about the types of sex acts. S'pose they only offer golden showers as foreplay? I'm not sure this law enforcement crew has thought this whole thing through.

(Tongue in cheek people)

[Judi Lynn]

48. And the geriatric massage parlors! n/t

[MichiganVote]

58. Thank you, you got the joke!

[951-Riverside]

45. Perhaps someone can take the time to explain why this is funny.

...I don't get it.

The Officers are being victimized by having themselves & their sexual partners exposed to STD's & the prostitutes are also being victimized.

I'm pissed.

[rayofreason]

56. They use condoms.

[Higans]

46. I thought it was the other way around....

I thought that Prostitutes must have sex to aquire evidence.... Hmmmmmm.......

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

47. The Officers will have a happy valentines day after all...

... :smoke:

[Heddi]

49. So then the cops would be guilty of solicitation?

Why is an offer for a BJ for $10 not enough? Why does the exchange of money and the BJ have to take place in order for there to be a conviction (barring all opposition I have for criminalization of prostitution aside--I'm just dealing with the law as it is).

Why, then, isn't the cop guilty of solicitation as well? Especially since he went through with the sex act as well.

Is there a time-line? I mean, a tongue on the pee-pee and that's it, the cuffs are on? Or does he get to finish? Is he allowed to do anything to her, like penetrate or perform oral sex on her? What if that's her propisition? STraight sex for $20. Does he get to be involved in penetration? Is he only "allowed" to perform the sex act that was offered? What if she offered a BJ and then he decides for straight sex? What if she offered straight sex and he then offered an extra $10 for anal?

This is so very wrong I can't even begin to verbalize it.

It seems that there must be better ways to prosecute prostitutes rather than allowing officers to victimize prostitutes further. And to suffer any significant other of the officer to any tasty little bacteria/viruses the officer picks up--remember, Condoms don't protect against all cases of genital herpes, or genital warts.

This is absolutely sick. The officers should be ashamed of themselves, but most likely they're not because it's a free lay AND they get the benefit of humiliating the woman FURTHER by slapping cuffs on her and arresting her AFTER she's gone through with having sex with him. Sweet.

Must suck having such a small-penis syndrome....

[LiberalGuy000]

51. What a country we live in

It's stories like this that keep the rest of the modern world laughing at us.

I can't think of ONE reason why any law enforcement agency needs to arrest prostitutes who have chosen to work in their own home or at a private business.

[rooboy]

52. From now on every criminal investigation will start at the whorehouse. n/t

[theshadow]

54. And I bet every case will have a successful climax. eom

[Scairp]

55. This is utter crap

Law enforcement has been getting prostitution convictions for years without actually engaging in sex. Sounds like the sheriff is condoning his officers getting their rocks off and calling it "undercover" work. Undercover indeed. They should all be indicted.

[Hekate]

57. And the taxpayers get screwed...

As they used to say on Laugh-In: "Verrry interesting. And also stupid."

Hekate
:eyes:

[MichiganVote]

59. Actually I think we pay to enable them to screw

On the other hand, we seem to be taking it in the ....

[Maestro]

60. This can not be lawful.

Law enforcement (and with these yokels I use the term loosely) must engage in illegal activities to arrest someone legally? I don't think so. What idiots developed and approved of this? So do women cops have to sleep with gigolos? This is ridiculous!

[951-Riverside]

61. Photo

[Maestro]

62. Cletus?

Is that you? What a dolt!

[951-Riverside]

63. *ROFL*

Funny you mentioned that because if you call him he sort of sounds like Cletus.

[rayofreason]

65. "So do women cops have to sleep with gigolos?"

Only the really nasty ones.

[oppositionmember]

64. Gives a new meaning to "scumbag cop."

Sorry couldn't resist.

[Robeson]

67. scumbag was the exact word that came to my mind, too....

...any guy who ejaculates in or on a woman, and then turns around and arrests her for getting his rocks off, is a scumbag, and I don't care what title he carries.