Spotsylvania Suspends Tactic in Sex Stings
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 18, 2006; B01
Citing public pressure, Spotsylvania County's sheriff said yesterday that he has suspended the practice of allowing detectives to receive sexual services during prostitution investigations, a technique that brought the quiet Virginia exurb attention from across the nation and around the world.
"As Sheriff, I understand the feelings and concerns the citizens of this county have expressed," Sheriff Howard D. Smith said in a statement. "And I empathize with those feelings."
Four days after the county's tactics were reported in The Washington Post, Smith said "the public's expressed response," which he did not characterize, persuaded him to curtail the investigative approach while his staff reviews it and prepares a report with recommendations.
Spotsylvania detectives on assignment to crack down on prostitution in county massage parlors visited Moon Spa three times in January and paid for massages, baths and sexual acts on four occasions, court documents show. On one occasion, they left a $350 tip, records show.
Smith and William F. Neely, the county's top prosecutor, said the sexual acts were necessary because the masseuses had poor English skills and would have been unable to make clearly spoken offers of sex for money. Such offers and evidence that more than touching occurred are needed to make a case under Virginia law, they said. Only unmarried detectives were assigned to the cases, Smith said.
The sheriff's suspension of the practice was applauded by Henry "Hap" Connors Jr., chairman of the county's Board of Supervisors. Connors, who had asked Smith to stop the practice, said he hopes detectives will now employ "more appropriate" means of investigating prostitution.
"I think the sheriff has made the right decision in suspending and putting an end to these tactics," Connors said yesterday. "I respect the job that he's doing but just disagree with these tactics."
Several legal and police experts said few, if any, law enforcement agencies allow sexual contact in prostitution investigations. Charles J. Key Sr., a retired Baltimore police lieutenant who trains officers and federal agents across the country, said, "If you allow officers to go through with the act, they've violated the law."
In a statement posted on his Web site Thursday, Neely blasted the "so-called experts" quoted in news reports. He said Spotsylvania's investigative method was used because authorities wanted to net not just prostitutes, but also their bosses -- who keep some of the proceeds collected by the masseuses in exchange for sexual acts.
"How is a prosecutor supposed to prove a case against the massage parlor madam and its owners if the police officer arrests the hooker before the marked money paid to her for sex can move into the madam's hands??" Neely asked.
He said the county's previous investigations involving detectives who paid for sex led to two massage parlors closing and a madam and a spa owner pleading guilty.
"Thus, we are left with the fundamental moral question of all criminal justice enforcement -- what is worse for our community: Organized prostitution and all of the crime which is proven to arise from it -- or a few police officers engaging in illicit sex acts in order to ultimately drive such crime from their jurisdiction & to better protect their community??" Neely asked. He said that he and Smith would not be swayed by the "naive media & political hysterics."
Neely did not respond to a message asking for comment yesterday.
Smith said he would not comment beyond his three-sentence statement. In an article published yesterday in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, the sheriff cited the earlier investigations, which were conducted before he took office and did not create such a firestorm.
"I thought I was doing the right thing," Smith told the paper.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
