PROSTITUTES FACE EXTRAORDINARY DANGERS

"It's the oldest profession and it never stops," New Hanover County Chief
Sheriff's Deputy Sid Causey said after the series of prostitution busts.
"It's supply and demand."

City-County Vice and Narcotics officers arrested 70 people for
prostitution-related crimes in 2001. They conduct sting operations based on
complaints.

"People see it as a victimless crime if a girl wants to do it and the guy
wants to pay (but) it's a crime and it's on the books and we have to
enforce it," Col. Causey said.

"The saddest part to me is the girl out there doing that to get a rock.
They're so desperate for drugs that they're willing to do that," he said,
adding that most of the women who prostitute themselves here are addicted
to drugs, usually crack or heroin.

Because many have children and drug habits to support, they subject
themselves to extraordinary danger every time they step into a stranger's
car. The murder of a prostitute here several years ago remains unsolved.

Sometimes the john pays the prostitute, has sex with her, then takes his
money back, the chief deputy said.

"How do you call police and report that?" Col. Causey asked. "It's a wonder
to me that they don't get beat up and robbed more, but they don't report it."

While the agents worry about the prostitutes' safety, they are also
concerned about the johns and their families with the threat and spread of
disease.

Most of the streetwalkers don't use condoms, he said, and "a lot of the
johns are married."

Col. Causey said he once saw a man drop a prostitute off and she walked
over to an AIDS clinic. He said vice agents have arrested Marines, a
councilman, preachers, an armed services recruiter and a prominent
businessman soliciting prostitutes.

But despite the dangers, the same women get arrested over and over. "It's a
misdemeanor," he said. "Normally, it's a citation, or they take it to the
magistrate sometimes and they'll get a small bond and get right out. . They
would have to get out a number of times before they would pull any time."

Or, if agents catch two people in the act of oral sex, and can prove it was
the result of prostitution, the participants can be charged with felonies.