Share
Police arrested 15 people last week during a prostitution crackdown on the Web site Craigslist as part of an ongoing investigation.
Most of the arrests occurred at motels along the I-77 corridor, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Capt. Mike Adams, who heads the agency's vice and narcotics unit.
Although he wouldn't say how many of those arrested were prostitutes and how many were clients, he said that most of the prostitutes were from out of town.
“We're trying to drive some of this business out of here,” Adams said. “It contributes to other crimes.”
Undercover and plainclothes officers in CMPD's vice and narcotics unit made most of the arrests. Adams said he couldn't be more specific about what tactics the police are using because the investigation continues.
The stings, which Observer news partner WCNC first reported Monday, followed a rash of prostitution-related crime, especially robberies and sexual assaults of the prostitutes, Adams said.
In late June, a 42-year-old Charlotte man, Wayne Ford, was charged with impersonating a police officer and robbing and raping a 21-year-old S.C. woman at a University City motel after meeting her on Craigslist.
The only arrestee from last week's sting whose name Adams released was Weylin Rodriguez, 25, allegedly a pimp for some of the prostitutes who were arrested.
Although arrest records list Rodriguez's address in Orlando, Fla., he has been arrested 30 times in North Carolina since 2000, on charges from armed robbery to taking indecent liberties with a 15-year-old.
He was charged Saturday, as a habitual felon, with maintaining a place for prostitution and failing to register as a sex offender in North Carolina.
Craigslist has recently faced criticism locally and nationally over sex-related crime. Last month a 39-year-old from Norwood, Rodney Liverman, was arrested and accused of raping a woman whose husband arranged the attack in their Kannapolis home.
The husband, whose name the Observer is withholding to protect his wife's identity, allegedly found Liverman on Craigslist.
The husband was also charged with first-degree rape, and both are awaiting trial in Cabarrus County.
Also, in May, Craigslist eliminated the controversial “erotic services” section of its site, which authorities said had become little more than a blatant sex market.
That followed the slaying of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman, who advertised her services on the site. Police say she was killed in a swanky Boston hotel by 22-year-old Boston University medical school student Philip Markoff.
Craigslist did not return e-mail requests for comment on the Charlotte arrests. The site replaced “erotic services” with an “adult services” category. Every ad is supposed to be screened by Craigslist employees to prevent offers of prostitution.
There were 13 ads on Craigslist's Charlotte site offering adult services for July 20.
One read, “Hey Guys, I'm lovin your city ... but I will be leaving soon! If you like you're girl exotic, cute and curvy you'll definitely love me!!”
