Sheriff investigators' nudity, sex contact dooms prostitution cases

[Champ]

David J. Cieslak and Emily Bittner
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 15, 2004 07:59 PM


About 60 people arrested last year in a prostitution sting will not be criminally charged because Maricopa County sheriff's deputies used tactics including nudity and sexual contact in their undercover operations, county prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Maricopa County prosecutors believe the two-month sting, which targeted suspected prostitutes and men accused of soliciting sex for money, was botched by sheriff's officials who allowed undercover deputies and department "Posse" members to remove their clothing and engage in sex acts on videotape.

"The credibility of the officers and the tactics they used are so abhorrent that we believe the likelihood of conviction has disappeared," special assistant county attorney Barnett Lotstein said. "At no time did our office ever, explicitly or implicitly, sign off on anything relating to the conduct that they employed."

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pledged to forward the rejected cases to the U.S. Attorney's Office, hoping federal prosecutors will pursue criminal charges against the suspects.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0615stingbotched-ON.html

[physioex]

1. I hate reading about prostitution cases...

When will this country come into the 21 century and have legalized and regulated prostituion...I would free up soo many people in the criminal justice system....

[TexasMexican]

2. HAHA, Good.

Prostition should be legal.

[jukes]

3. agree w/ you

physioex & TM. waste of resources.


but, are these cops stupid, or what?

[physioex]

4. Yea...having sex is probably going overboard a bit....EOM