Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 4, 2010

Police, task force arrest nine for solicitation

By BILL ARCHER and GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Detectives with the Princeton Police Department, the Bluefield Police Department and members of the Southern Regional Drug & Violent Crime Task Force are continuing their crack down on prostitution in Bluefield and Princeton.

“We recently started working on the demand side by working with cooperating individuals to arrest people who are soliciting prostitutes,” said Chief J.W. “Joe” Wilson of the Bluefield Police Department. “We’re going to keep doing it until it is no longer a problem.”

Wilson said that detectives and task force members are conducting the prostitution stings. “We are not using any patrol resources on this operation,” Wilson. “Patrolmen are out working their regular beats.

“This is a new problem in Bluefield,” Wilson said. “There were only a few cases of prostitution reported in Bluefield for several years. You didn’t have it at this level. But this year, when the weather broke in the spring, we started hearing several reports about prostitution.”

Detectives conducted the most recent sting operation on Aug. 30-31, arresting four subjects on the first night and five additional suspects on Aug. 31.

The suspects include: Anthony C. Keene, 51, of Bluefield; Bennie R. Taylor, 26, of Bluefield; James R. Thompson, 58, of Bluefield; Thomas S. Ritner, 58, of Atkins, all four arrested on Aug. 30, and all four charged with solicitation of prostitution.

Additional subjects include Randy L. Church, 40, of Peterstown; Robert J. Edwards, 50, of Richlands, Va.; Anthony A. Lewis, 33, of Bluefield; Antoinne E. Braxton, 35, of Maybeury; and Aundrea A. Frazier, 34, of Bluefield, all five arrested on Aug. 31, and all five were arrested on solicitation of prostitution.

With an operation similar to ones conducted recently by the Bluefield Police Department, the Princeton police focused on individuals seeking the services of prostitutes.

Instead of using undercover police or cooperating individuals that prostitutes could approach, the operation Thursday was “a reverse,” said Detective J.W. Howell of the Princeton Police Department.

“We had a confidential informant, a female,” Howell said Friday. “She was picking up guys and we were able to arrest three last night.”

The names of the male individuals who were arrested were not released Friday because the case was still pending. Each was released on bond after being charged with solicitation of prostitution. A conviction carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and/or a $500 fine, Howell said.

Princeton officers conduct operations against local prostitutes and the individuals who solicit them.

“We do this periodically,” Howell said. “We get complaints from citizens and business owners, and we try to stay on top of these complaints. If we can get rid of the problem as far as the guys picking up prostitutes, then the prostitutes would leave. They wouldn’t have the need to be there.”

Residents who believe they are seeing prostitution activity near their homes or businesses should call police.

“Contact us and let us know what you see, and we’ll do our best to put a stop to it,” Howell said.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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