Residents from across the North Shore were among the 104 alleged johns arrested and charged with using the Web site Backpage.com to arrange meetings with undercover police officers posing as prostitutes, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced Monday.
The sting, known as “Operation Flush the Johns,” caught the accused johns on visual and audio footage by hidden cameras located in the hotel rooms where the meetings took place, according to a press release from Rice’s office.
Each of the accused, which included residents from Manhasset, Mineola, Glen Head, New Hyde Park, Roslyn, Great Neck and North Hills, as well as residents of other areas of Nassau County, Queens and beyond pleaded not guilty to third-degree charges patronizing a prostitute. If convicted, each faces a maximum of one year in prison.
“Not only do people have a right to know who their prosecutors and police are arresting and charging with crimes, but we know that the commission of this specific crime is dramatically affected by the perceived risk of getting caught,” Rice said in a press release. “We are giving fair warning to johns that the risk is growing rapidly.”
The arrests, according to the release, took place between April 18 and May 24 and “mark a dramatic expansion” in the way in which Nassau County targets prostitution.
In the last 10 years, fewer than 40 men have been arrested by police for soliciting prostitutes, the release said.
Nassau County police placed online advertisements on Backpage.com soliciting escort services by both men and women, and patrons called the phone number provided in the ads to arrange a rendezvous with an escort at a wire-tapped hotel or motel room.
The alleged johns then met with undercover officers posing as prostitutes, and when money was offered in exchange for sex, they were arrested and charged.
“Sex workers are often vulnerable victims of traffickers and pimps, yet they too often remain the prime targets in prostitution investigations while the johns who fuel the exploitation are treated as mere witnesses,” Rice said in the release. “My office and the department are turning the tables on the illogical and immoral nature of that equation.”
