JOHNSON COUNTY, KAN. -
The world's oldest profession has a new way to advertise. The cyber sex trade is a hugely profitable industry here in the metro, and according to both police and former prostitutes, it's happening mostly in hotels along Interstate 435, from Nall to Metcalf.
We interviewed a former cyber sex worker, who asked us not to show her face or give her real name, since she is trying to make a new life for herself out of the industry.
How it worked:
"Patricia" left her job as an executive assistant after her boyfriend recruited her to help run his cyber sex business. He would recruit the women, then ask her to teach them how to dress, speak and conduct themselves with class, because it sells well in Johnson County. "He would bring me girls home and ask me to clean them up and make them marketable to put on Craigslist to get the guys from Overland Park, that have big money," Patricia told us.
She began going on calls herself when his drug and gambling habits left them broke. On her first call, she made $700 for two hours. She called the money, "almost too easy."
She said the biggest money in online prostitution here in the metro is made in the Overland Park area. Many of the "johns" are businessmen who are traveling through and stay in the hotels along I-435, but many are also men who live in the area, who are married with families.
Patricia said, "Guys will call you on their lunch break. These men will pay for the high dollar hotels over there just to have you come over for an hour...it's not uncommon for a girl to go out and get three, four, five hundred dollars for an hour with one of the business guys over there."
Online ads:
She told us that she never spelled out in her online ads what they were truly offering, and that the more demurely her girls were dressed, the better the business. The ads sometimes use code language. Roses, for example, means dollars. An ad may specify: bring 250 roses, which means the price is 250 bucks.
She said she knew a man - a computer whiz - who helped set it up online for free, in return for the opportunity to see the girls. With his help, they created multiple websites, e-mail addresses and fake names, routed through other countries and difficult to trace. She was even able to operate it in just minutes a day on public computers.
She said, "For a while you could use the library - they've finally blocked that stuff now, but you could run up to Kinko's, pay four bucks to use the computer, place your ad and bam! Fifteen minutes later your phone's ringing."
Police enforcement:
When women get busted in the metro, nearly every judge offers them the same choice: go to jail, or to Veronica's Voice. Veronica's Voice was started by a former sex worker, Kristy Childs, to help other women get out of the sex trade. She named it after her friend who was murdered by a john. She and her staff help women to get off drugs, get jobs, counseling, legal help with their court filings and appearances. They even drive the streets and give out care packages to street prostitutes with hygiene products, condoms and clothing. They go into rehab centers and jails, offering women a safe way out. They get help from volunteers and metro churches.
Law enforcement in Kansas and Missouri are fighting the problem, but it's massive. The Attorneys General are cracking down on websites like Craigslist, but there are many more. Police around the metro work together to conduct stings online and in hotels, but the sex workers figure out which hotels cooperate and avoid those. The Overland Park Police Department's prostitution arrests for the first half of 2009 are some of the highest in the department's history. They find that sex crimes go hand in hand with other crime, like drugs. They also find more and more young women in the sex trade. A handful of young women who were recently busted in Johnson County were just teenagers.
Help available:
The former sex worker we interviewed warned that those young women are the target, lured by men who promise glamour and money. She also said there's a market for young men as well. She urges parents to carefully monitor their teenagers: their friends, their time, their purchases and spending money, their online and cell phone activities.
If you have suspicions, feel free to talk with the staff at Veronica's Voice. They also need donations and volunteers. Contact Kristy Childs or Caroline Germann at (816) 483-7101 or go to www.veronicasvoice.org.
We interviewed a former cyber sex worker, who asked us not to show her face or give her real name, since she is trying to make a new life for herself out of the industry.
How it worked:
"Patricia" left her job as an executive assistant after her boyfriend recruited her to help run his cyber sex business. He would recruit the women, then ask her to teach them how to dress, speak and conduct themselves with class, because it sells well in Johnson County. "He would bring me girls home and ask me to clean them up and make them marketable to put on Craigslist to get the guys from Overland Park, that have big money," Patricia told us.
She began going on calls herself when his drug and gambling habits left them broke. On her first call, she made $700 for two hours. She called the money, "almost too easy."
She said the biggest money in online prostitution here in the metro is made in the Overland Park area. Many of the "johns" are businessmen who are traveling through and stay in the hotels along I-435, but many are also men who live in the area, who are married with families.
Patricia said, "Guys will call you on their lunch break. These men will pay for the high dollar hotels over there just to have you come over for an hour...it's not uncommon for a girl to go out and get three, four, five hundred dollars for an hour with one of the business guys over there."
Online ads:
She told us that she never spelled out in her online ads what they were truly offering, and that the more demurely her girls were dressed, the better the business. The ads sometimes use code language. Roses, for example, means dollars. An ad may specify: bring 250 roses, which means the price is 250 bucks.
She said she knew a man - a computer whiz - who helped set it up online for free, in return for the opportunity to see the girls. With his help, they created multiple websites, e-mail addresses and fake names, routed through other countries and difficult to trace. She was even able to operate it in just minutes a day on public computers.
She said, "For a while you could use the library - they've finally blocked that stuff now, but you could run up to Kinko's, pay four bucks to use the computer, place your ad and bam! Fifteen minutes later your phone's ringing."
Police enforcement:
When women get busted in the metro, nearly every judge offers them the same choice: go to jail, or to Veronica's Voice. Veronica's Voice was started by a former sex worker, Kristy Childs, to help other women get out of the sex trade. She named it after her friend who was murdered by a john. She and her staff help women to get off drugs, get jobs, counseling, legal help with their court filings and appearances. They even drive the streets and give out care packages to street prostitutes with hygiene products, condoms and clothing. They go into rehab centers and jails, offering women a safe way out. They get help from volunteers and metro churches.
Law enforcement in Kansas and Missouri are fighting the problem, but it's massive. The Attorneys General are cracking down on websites like Craigslist, but there are many more. Police around the metro work together to conduct stings online and in hotels, but the sex workers figure out which hotels cooperate and avoid those. The Overland Park Police Department's prostitution arrests for the first half of 2009 are some of the highest in the department's history. They find that sex crimes go hand in hand with other crime, like drugs. They also find more and more young women in the sex trade. A handful of young women who were recently busted in Johnson County were just teenagers.
Help available:
The former sex worker we interviewed warned that those young women are the target, lured by men who promise glamour and money. She also said there's a market for young men as well. She urges parents to carefully monitor their teenagers: their friends, their time, their purchases and spending money, their online and cell phone activities.
If you have suspicions, feel free to talk with the staff at Veronica's Voice. They also need donations and volunteers. Contact Kristy Childs or Caroline Germann at (816) 483-7101 or go to www.veronicasvoice.org.
