Broken Arrow Prostitution Sting Nabs Three

Prostitution problems plague Green Country.  Three Tulsa women were released from jail on Friday after being arrested by Broken Arrow police for offering sex in exchange for money.  News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright reports police say these women took a 21st century approach to an age-old profession, by going online.

Police say they found all three of these women, on craigslist.com.  This is a trend police in many towns in Green Country are now facing.  On these jail records, one woman lists a job at McDonalds, another says she's a massage therapist and one is unemployed.

Police in Tulsa used to conduct sting operations with officers posing as prostitutes getting offers from Johns looking to exchange money for sex.  Police have also posed as Johns to catch the hookers.  It's still a problem officers get complaints about from businesses and neighborhood associations.

"People are tired of walking down streets in front of houses, being solicited by people driving up. They want a safe neighborhood also," said Tulsa Police Corporal Quentin Houck.

Now, a new breed of prostitute is showing up.

In addition to the drug addict on the street willing to trade sex for as little as $10 or $20, there are women who are posting ads on websites, like craigslist.com under casual encounters.

Broken Arrow Police say they called these three women from ads on the site.  They say each woman showed up to a hotel room, agreed to have sex in exchange for around $200 dollars and all of them were arrested.  Officers say prostitution isn't usually a stand-alone crime.

"Along with prostitution, gonna have drug problems and other crimes like robberies and burglaries," said Tulsa Police Corporal Quentin Houck.

Police say even though the crime has moved indoors and isn't as obvious as when it was walking down the sidewalk, it's just as ugly for the community and just as destructive for families.

Tulsa's three man trouble spots for prostitution are near 11th and Rockford, 5^th and Lewis and Admiral and Sheridan.  Some parents, near 5^th and Lewis, say prostitutes are not just approaching just parents picking up their kids from Kendall Whittier Elementary School, but one even propositioned a fifth grader.