SUBURBAN PROSTITUTION STING NETS 14 ARRESTS

Friday, March 12, 2010 —

A prostitution sting in the northwest suburbs resulted in the arrests of eight women and one man from five states and county citations for five other men Thursday night in Schaumburg, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said.

The sting operation, which also netted a prostitute’s detailed ledger book of clients, was set up after police received complaints from residents about illegal activities being carried out via online services. Undercover officers responded to some ads posted on craigslist and Backpage, but later began using their own online ads to arrest those looking for sex.

Sheriff’s Police worked with a hotel in Schaumburg to set up a base for the undercover operation. Because of their cooperation, that hotel is not being publicly named. As the officers checked in, they noticed women checking in at the same time, who they suspected might have flown into the area for illegal purposes. Just a few hours later, those very women were arrested in the sting operation. They had checked in four doors away from the officers.

Additionally, undercover officers arrested a woman who had appeared in the Rolling Meadows courthouse just hours earlier, pleading guilty to an earlier prostitution arrest.

Most of the women had flown into the area specifically for prostitution purposes, with many set to fly to another city after the weekend. Some worked for escort agencies, others for pimps, while others were operating on their own.

One of the women arrested kept records of her clients with names, prices charged and contact information, which sheriff’s police are now using to continue their investigation.

Those arrested had posted ads with pictures of themselves or others, advertising both sexual and non-sexual acts. Some ads included price ranges from $150 to $400 an hour for services.

The men who responded to those ads were all arrested and then issued a citation for violation of Cook County’s public morals nuisance ordinance. Last year, the Cook County Board approved a new set of penalties which are harsher than those found under the Illinois criminal statutes.

Those penalties include a fine of $500 to $1,000, as well as the possibility of having your car towed with towing and storage fees increasing the total potential penalty beyond $1,500. All money is then delivered to the Cook County Sheriff’s Department of Women’s Justice Services, which provides counseling and outreach to prostitutes. The staff includes three former prostitutes, some of whom were out with the vice officers during these operations.

Those men were arrested in a hotel room, so no cars were towed, and because it was a first-time offense for each, all were fined $500, which each has 24 hours to pay or face criminal charges.

Arrested were Djordje Vukmirovic, 29, of Chicago, Kevin Call, 39, of St. Charles, Jeffrey Norman, 22, of Schaumburg, Naqui Abbas, 33, of Schaumburg, and Phillip Benson, 36, of Hawthorne Woods. Benson was arrested on his birthday.

Seven women and one man were charged with prostitution, while another woman was charged with conducting a massage without a state license. All were offered DWJS services.

Jessica Dusablon, 21, of California, was charged with violating the massage act and had her ledger book confiscated by police.