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"Freedom of the press does not protect ads promoting prostitution"

Police Chief, Sheriff, Prosecutor, Columnist and 40 signers agree

During the past few days we have included you on all our Press Advisories regarding the letter that we – along with 40 civic leaders, ministries and law enforcement officials – delivered to the editor and publisher of CityBeat.

                           

We made that letter public yesterday in a well-attended press conference. 

 

In the letter, this diverse and impressive coalition asked CityBeat to eliminate the adult services category in both their print and online editions.  To even the casual reader, many of those ads clearly promote prostitution and related services. 

 

Cincinnati’s Police Chief Tom Streicher and Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis understand the nature of those ads, and signed the letter.  Their undercover agents have called the phone numbers in CityBeat’s ads, and those calls have led to arrests for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. 

 

Dearborn County, Indiana prosecutor Aaron Negangard understands the nature of those ads, and signed the letter.  The “spas” fronting for prostitution in Dearborn County and Northern Kentucky – spas raided by federal authorities last month – were regular advertisers in CityBeat. 

 

And Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Peter Bronson understands the nature of those ads.  Copied below is Bronson’s insightful column, published on June 10, 2008.




 
Illegal 'fun's not far' from casino


John Doe No. 3 heard about the Golden Gate Spa in Lawrenceburg from a guy on a gambling boat who "told him where he could get a massage and winked as he said it."

 John Doe No. 25 was stopped by federal investigators as he left the Rainbow Spa in Lawrenceburg on Feb. 27. He said he was at the Argosy Casino for a meeting when he left for a massage. He also visited the LA Spa in Lawrenceburg, where he used his company credit card to charge various sex acts.

Sun Spa in Lawrenceburg was also targeted in sex-trafficking and prostitution charges announced May 20. A Cheviot woman, Yong Williams, 50, was accused of being the leader of a national prostitution network of Korean women - many in the country illegally - with "franchises" in Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Five massage parlors were in Lawrenceburg - a town of 5,000.

Of course, that has nothing to do with Lawrenceburg being Indiana's casino capital, home to Argosy, the gambling "boat" for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Casinos do not attract crime and prostitution. We know, because we hear it more often than "hit me" at a blackjack table.

Even after the sex-trafficking bust, a casino owner still insisted that opponents of an Ohio casino are misinformed. "They'll say what they always say, that it will mean an increase in drugs, prostitution and crime," said Lyle Berman, who wants a statewide vote for a $600 million casino between Columbus and Cincinnati. "That dog don't hunt. People have been to casinos now and they have seen that those claims are just not true."

That sounds as good as those glitzy casino ads. But the truth is a bit grittier. Reality is about as glamorous as the contents of trash cans behind massage parlors, described in court documents.

There's no evidence that casinos sponsor or encourage prostitution. But the investigation showed that John Does heard about it by visiting casinos. And spa workers were regular casino customers.

Investigators said one spa owner wrote checks for $140,000 to Argosy Casino over five months. Another spa worker gambled $564,000 and lost $110,000 in six months at Argosy, Grand Victoria and Belterra.

And casinos are not the only businesses that get a massage from prostitution.

John Doe No. 26 said he purchased sex with a $20 coupon published in CityBeat.

"These are ads for prostitution. You don't have to be an attorney general to see that," said David Miller of Citizens for Community Values. "Ironically, they published a good article on sex trafficking," he said, pointing to a February edition of the Cincinnati alternative weekly. "Then if you want to engage in this, just look in the back and get a coupon for $20 off your first try."

CCV and 40 others have signed a letter asking CityBeat to reject ads for prostitution. "We're not censoring anybody. We're encouraging them to do a better job of censoring themselves," said CCV President Phil Burress.

Consultant Charlie Winburn visited Orlando, where a weekly that published similar ads was charged with aiding and abetting prostitution. After initial protests about the First Amendment, Orlando Weekly agreed to stop the ads and even paid for the investigation.

"These (sex trafficking) indictments tie back to CityBeat in four of the major massage parlors," Winburn said. "You don't have a First Amendment right to aid and abet prostitution."

Hamilton County Sheriff Si Leis joined the CCV letter, along with Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher, the Salvation Army, local prosecutors in Kentucky and Indiana, churches, pastors and other groups. The sheriff listed 22 prostitution arrests in five years that were directly linked to CityBeat ads.

The June 3 CityBeat did not include ads for spas accused of sex trafficking. But a battle could be brewing. CCV and the sheriff are CityBeat's comic-book arch enemies. Co-publisher and editor John Fox said in a statement that such ads are more common in the Yellow Pages, "yet it seems to us that CityBeat is being unfairly targeted by this coalition."

And, "Just about every public official listed in (Monday's) Enquirer article as being a leader of this 'coalition led by Citizens for Community Values' has been the subject of critical news articles, columns and editorials in CityBeat."

CCV officials said they have no quarrel with CityBeat's First Amendment protection to publish "left-wing stories." But freedom of the press does not protect ads promoting prostitution.

Sex trafficking is criminal and cruel. Those who wink and profit from it have hands as dirty as the trash behind a massage parlor.

Peter Bronson is a columnist for The Enquirer. E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 513-768-8301.