The Deja Vu strip club on First Avenue downtown. Once upon a time, this stretch of road was littered with adult entertainment venues. (seattlepi.com photo)
See the full article from “Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)”
Getting that site taken down has been a thorn in the side of Seattle police and Mayor Mike McGinn, who came out swinging this summer against backpage.com and its parent company, Village Voice Media. The company also owns Seattle Weekly.
And now, with a murderer on the loose, Detroit police are urging the public to be vigilant about any online ads – especially these.
“We felt it imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet can be extremely dangerous,” says Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee.
A Seattle police spokesman told KOMO News they are concerned about the new developments, given the history of backpage.com in this area.
“We’re certainly concerned because of the fact that Backpage is very active in our area – not just in Seattle but Washington state. Prostitution is a very high risk place to be for young women and girls and certainly this is very reminiscent of the Craigslist killer,” said Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.
See the full article from “KOMO News”
Getting that site taken down has been a thorn in the side of Seattle police and Mayor Mike McGinn, who came out swinging this summer against backpage.com and its parent company, Village Voice Media. The company also owns Seattle Weekly.
And now, with a murderer on the loose, Detroit police are urging the public to be vigilant about any online ads – especially these.
“We felt it imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the Internet can be extremely dangerous,” says Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee.
A Seattle police spokesman said they are concerned about the new developments, given the history of backpage.com in this area.
“We’re certainly concerned because of the fact that Backpage is very active in our area – not just in Seattle but Washington state. Prostitution is a very high risk place to be for young women and girls and certainly this is very reminiscent of the Craigslist killer,” said Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb.
See the full article from “KATU”
Seattle police, Department of Homeland Security officials, and the Port of Seattle are investigating several Seattle-area “foot massage” parlors for connections to possible human trafficking, according to SPD records released Thursday.
In June undercover detectives from SPD’s vice/high-risk victims began making visits to four massage parlors, focusing mostly on a business in the Greenwood neighborhood in north Seattle.
Women at the businesses apparently didn’t speak much English, but offered officers “happy endings” and sex through pantomime, according to a police search warrant affidavit. On one visit, one of the female employees at the business gave a detective a 15 minute butt massage, the warrant says.
SPD eventually sent in an undercover female detective to ask about a job at the Greenwood business, but a man who police say runs the massage parlor told her he only hired women who spoke Mandarin Chinese.
See the full article from “PubliCola”
Confidential to the Shoreline teen who faked a burglary report with the police in order to cover up the fact that he pawned his aunt’s possessions: Dude. Really? WTF do you need the money that badly for? What did you pawn that you felt it was necessary to call the cops? For god’s sake, what was going through your mind? Next time just borrow the money or something. Better yet, earn it. [Seattle PI]
In other over-reactive news, after learning that the Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012, a Seward Park woman took the threat of impending doom seriously enough to stab her mom in order to spare her the agony of the endtimes. Those who remember the Y2K panic from 12 years ago know we can expect a lot more of this kind of thing in the year ahead. [Seattle PI]
A man who allegedly posed as a police officer to attack a prostitute and rape three women has plead guilty to 15 related counts. [Seattle PI]
See the full article from “Seattlest”
Seattle man impersonated cop to rape, extort victims
A 26-year-old felon pleaded guilty today to 10 felonies and five misdemeanors, admitting he impersonated a police officer and extorted sex from a woman and two 15-year-old girls after responding to the victims’ online ads for prostitution and escort services.
Julian Tarver, who had previously served nearly five years in prison for a number of crimes, including first-degree arson, threats to bomb and attempted possession of child pornography, was under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections when he committed his sexually-motivated crimes in August 2010, according to court records.
Originally charged with four counts of first-degree kidnapping, Tarver — who forced the women and girls to each remain inside his North Seattle apartment for two to five hours — pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful imprisonment as part of his plea deal before King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree extortion with sexual motivation; one count of attempted first-degree extortion with sexual motivation; third-degree rape of a child; and third-degree rape of a child with a one-year sentence enhancement because he offered one 15-year-old victim money in exchange for sex.
… This is sensationalizing and a distortion of what’s happening,” Stelma said. “We do not arrest anybody, male or female, for holding hands.”
Aukerman said in half the reports she examined law officers initiated the contact with those they later arrested. She noted that the practice of using undercover cops in search of gay men seeking companionship has a long history.
Michigan law makes it illegal for someone to use a public place to invite another to commit a “lewd or immoral act.” The statute states: “A person 16 years of age or older who accosts, solicits, or invites another person in a public place or in or from a building or vehicle, by word, gesture, or any other means, to commit prostitution or to do any other lewd or immoral act is guilty of a crime.”
For Escamilla, the occupy movement has been useful for his classroom curriculum, where he educates his students on issues relating to the economy, jobs and the need for change.
“I am teaching about the economy and the lack of quality jobs,” Escamilla said. “For many of my students, it is affecting not only the way they are living but also the standard of their living.”
At Foster, Escamilla teaches a large Somalian population, who he believes is particularly vulnerable in the sour economy.
“Unemployment numbers are high in the South King County area,” he said. “Some of the stressors are playing out in the classroom and with the performance of these students. We have many working-age students here who just don’t have access to jobs period.”
Escamilla said that while he enjoys the large and dynamic school environment, stubborn society ills confound the surrounding neighborhood, including poverty and prostitution.
Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Businessman from Middle East pleads to lesser charge after rape investigation
EVERETT — A businessman from the United Arab Emirates who was arrested earlier this month of investigation of rape pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of patronizing a prostitute.
Mohammad M. Khan, 51, was sentenced to 90 days in jail with all but one day suspended. He already served the time when he was arrested.
The woman told police she agreed to give the man a massage after he answered an ad she had taken out on a website, according to court papers.
She told police that he forced her to have sex with him after she entered his Lynnwood hotel room on Nov. 30.
The suspect told police that the sex was consensual and he paid the woman $100. He also said that two men collected more money from him the next day on behalf of the woman.
See the full article from “HeraldNet”
… This is sensationalizing and a distortion of what’s happening,” Stelma said. “We do not arrest anybody, male or female, for holding hands.”
Aukerman said in half the reports she examined law officers initiated the contact with those they later arrested. She noted that the practice of using undercover cops in search of gay men seeking companionship has a long history.
Michigan law makes it illegal for someone to use a public place to invite another to commit a “lewd or immoral act.” The statute states: “A person 16 years of age or older who accosts, solicits, or invites another person in a public place or in or from a building or vehicle, by word, gesture, or any other means, to commit prostitution or to do any other lewd or immoral act is guilty of a crime.”