Prostitution sting nails 6 in Kingston

[KBCraig]

I wonder... when negotiating prices, is it still "prostitution" if the price is dinner, drinks, dancing, a dozen roses, etc.?

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Kingston+sex+sting+nets+6&articleId=8355e245-08ee-4398-a32b-bb51bfc1c5d1

Kingston sex sting nets 6

By JENNIFER DEPAUL AND MARK HAYWARD
Union Leader News

KINGSTON – The communications director for a technical college was one of six New Hampshire men charged yesterday with a prostitution-related crime after showing up at a would-be brothel that Kingston police set up as part of an elaborate sting operation.

Richard Osborne, 54, who is also known as the voice of the UniversIty of New Hampshire Wildcats hockey team, arrived at the sting about 2:45 p.m. in a 2000 Honda Civic belonging to the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. Also nabbed in the sting and charged with marijuana possession was Atkinson resident Shaun Menzie, 43, executive director of the Boys Club of Haverhill, Mass.

Police set up the operation at noon yesterday, expecting to apprehend as many as 35 people who had made serious inquiries to several ads placed on craigslist.com.

The advertisements were posted on craigslist under erotic services and included "Lonely gal in town needing some sexual fun" and "Down east Maine gal ... (in) town." One included risque photos.

Four police officers and two women -- one undercover officer from the Kingston police department, and a woman who volunteered to help police -- were stationed at a house in Kingston.

Police did not disclose the location of the house yesterday.

Police initiated the investigation after receiving a handful of complaints from local citizens about the social networking website myspace.com and other online chat rooms.

"You get what you pay for," Chief Donald Briggs said yesterday as the arrests were being made.

A message left on the voice mail at Osborne's Concord home was not returned last night. Osborne has held his current job at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord since 2003, where he oversees college marketing, public relations, development and alumni relations..

He has done radio play-by-play of the Wildcats for more than 25 years and is executive producer of the UNH Sports Network. His wife is a state representative.

Marty Scarano, the athletic director for UNH, did not return a telephone call last night.

Officials with the New Hampshire Community College System said they would cooperate with authorities.

"If he's guilty, we can't have him around young people. It's a morals problem, and one that would create great difficulties for the system," said trustees Chairman Paul Holloway, who expressed surprise at the news of Osborne's arrest.

Dr. Richard Gustafson, the newly appointed chancellor of the community college system, said he would not comment on Osborne's job future. He said the news was "disappointing."

Gustafson said each college has several vehicles that are available to staff, but they are to be used only for job-related reasons.

Not all of the 35 suspects showed up at the house yesterday because "some individuals test the water to see if it's a set-up and to feel out how much it will cost," Briggs said. Several hours after the first arrests were made, a handful of warnings were posted on craigslist.com about the sting.

According to Chief Briggs, suspects called the house and received specific directions. At the house, the four undercover persons greeted them and asked what they were there for.

Negotiations began. Some of the services range from $100 to $3,000 for sexual favors. Once the individual indicated to the women what services they desired, the women uttered a code word to the four undercover officers, and the suspect was arrested with wrist restraints.

The individual was taken to the station where he was read his Miranda rights, asked to sign a summons and then transported to the jail to be released on personal recognizance bail, police said.

"Everyone has been very passive so far," Cpl. Scott Peltier said yesterday.

Police conducted an inventory search of the vehicle before it was towed by Bump and Grind Towing service.

"Each car was towed in a safe and secure manner," Briggs said. Osborne's employer will have to pay to get his car released.

Also arrested for soliciting sex online for prostitution:

    * Joseph Geoffroy, 45, of Sousa Avenue, Hudson.

    * Daniel Beers, 35, of Mammoth Road in Pelham. Beers had two additional charges of driving after suspension and having a suspended registration, which is a misdemeanor.

    * Menzie, 43, was also charged with possession of marijuana.

      Menzie has been executive director of the Haverhill Boys Club for at least six years, said Bill Faraci, a board member.

      "We really can't say anything, this is the first we're hearing about it," he said. The club is closed and members are participating in a day camp in New Hampshire, he said.

    * Steven Lafave, 44, of 49 Auburndale Lane, Auburn, was charged with soliciting prostitution.

    * Daniel J. Driscoll, 42, of 15 Smith Corner in Plaistow.

All will be arraigned at the Plaistow District Court on Aug. 27. Prostitution charges are considered a Class B misdemeanor and could have a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and $1,000 fine.

[error]

That's low. The Kingston police should be ashamed of themselves.

[penguins4me]

"Bump and Grind Towing Service"? O.o

[Braddogg]

"Bump and Grind Towing Service"? O.o

Come on, penguin.  I, like Mr Kelly, don't see nothin wrong with a little Bumb and Grind Towing Service.

[Braddogg]

I wonder... when negotiating prices, is it still "prostitution" if the price is dinner, drinks, dancing, a dozen roses, etc.?

I don't know what kinds of dates you go on, but oddly enough I've found dinner, drinks, and a dozen roses doesn't buy me an hour of sex.  It buys me a few hours of conversation and the possibility of sex, but not sex.  Dating isn't the equivalent of prostitution . . . .

[JonM]

I wonder... when negotiating prices, is it still "prostitution" if the price is dinner, drinks, dancing, a dozen roses, etc.?

I don't know what kinds of dates you go on, but oddly enough I've found dinner, drinks, and a dozen roses doesn't buy me an hour of sex.  It buys me a few hours of conversation and the possibility of sex, but not sex.  Dating isn't the equivalent of prostitution . . . .

Clearly, you're not buying enough dinner, drinks and roses.

Though, only one of those three components in excessive quantity is likely to result in what you might be seeking, however the moral quandries begin to abound.

Then again, there's the really expensive dinner, really expensive drinks and really expensive flowers, but not being the sort to afford that sort of tack, I can't tell you how well it works.

[lildog]

I will never understand prostitution as a crime.

You can go into a bar, buy a girl a drink and take her home and do the nasty but if you meet up with that same girl and give her money directly then do the nasty it becomes a crime.

I mean seriously, what is the difference between a girl simply mowing my bone for nothing and the same girl mowing my bone for some cash?  Yet I can go to a strip club and pay that same girl to show me her body and that's ok.

[LiveFree]

I fail to see how searching the vehicles is Constitutional.  Hopefully any evidence turned up there will be thrown out.

And I really dont get prostitution being a crime either.  It's just absurd to punish people for making a voluntary exchange of goods and services.

[Rochelle]

It buys me a few hours of conversation and the possibility of sex, but not sex.  Dating isn't the equivalent of prostitution . . . .

Depends on the girl, doesn't it? In all markets, pricing is subjective.

[Fluff and Stuff]

I wonder... when negotiating prices, is it still "prostitution" if the price is dinner, drinks, dancing, a dozen roses, etc.?

I don't know what kinds of dates you go on, but oddly enough I've found dinner, drinks, and a dozen roses doesn't buy me an hour of sex...

What about 5 min?  Oh, and don't give the flowers, that may be what is keeping the sex away.  Replace flowers with chocolate or great forplay.

[Braddogg]

I will never understand prostitution as a crime.

You can go into a bar, buy a girl a drink and take her home and do the nasty but if you meet up with that same girl and give her money directly then do the nasty it becomes a crime.

I mean seriously, what is the difference between a girl simply mowing my bone for nothing and the same girl mowing my bone for some cash?  Yet I can go to a strip club and pay that same girl to show me her body and that's ok.

Prostitution should be legal.  I should say that right up front.  I just don't see the similarities, generally speaking, between picking someone up at a bar and prostitution.  Maybe it's because I've never done it (and never really tried too hard).  Is the agreement in the open?  "I will buy you $30 in beer and you will have sex with me."  Is that sentence uttered?  I've bought women drinks without the implicit agreement of sex before.  Or perhaps by buying them drinks I was buying their time, but I was buying conversation instead of sex?  I just don't see the similarity between prostitution and hitting on a girl at a bar (and that's probably more likely to be fairly compared to prostitution than regular ol' meet a girl at a supermarket and take her out to dinner stuff, if only because of the self-esteem dynamics being similar in prostitution and in picking up girls at bars).  Help me understand, I'm kinda confused.

[Braddogg]

It buys me a few hours of conversation and the possibility of sex, but not sex.  Dating isn't the equivalent of prostitution . . . .

Depends on the girl, doesn't it? In all markets, pricing is subjective.

Are you saying that every woman has her price?  I mean, you're in what seems like a happy marriage (unless I'm confusing you with someone else), and I assume you don't have a price.

[Braddogg]

Replace flowers with chocolate or great forplay.

The flowers are supposed to get me to the point where I can start getting worried about foreplay

[lildog]

I will never understand prostitution as a crime.

You can go into a bar, buy a girl a drink and take her home and do the nasty but if you meet up with that same girl and give her money directly then do the nasty it becomes a crime.

I mean seriously, what is the difference between a girl simply mowing my bone for nothing and the same girl mowing my bone for some cash?  Yet I can go to a strip club and pay that same girl to show me her body and that's ok.

Prostitution should be legal.  I should say that right up front.  I just don't see the similarities, generally speaking, between picking someone up at a bar and prostitution.  Maybe it's because I've never done it (and never really tried too hard).  Is the agreement in the open?  "I will buy you $30 in beer and you will have sex with me."  Is that sentence uttered?  I've bought women drinks without the implicit agreement of sex before.  Or perhaps by buying them drinks I was buying their time, but I was buying conversation instead of sex?  I just don't see the similarity between prostitution and hitting on a girl at a bar (and that's probably more likely to be fairly compared to prostitution than regular ol' meet a girl at a supermarket and take her out to dinner stuff, if only because of the self-esteem dynamics being similar in prostitution and in picking up girls at bars).  Help me understand, I'm kinda confused.

The similarity is that in both cases the goal is to have sex with the woman.

In the case of prostitution you discuss a price.

In the case of a woman in a bar you offer to buy a beer to get a conversation going and if your an open and up front person like myself you'll ask if they would like to bump uglies with you.  Other guys work into it by asking if they'd like to go somewhere a little more quite to "talk".  But both parties know the over all goal is sex.  Maybe I'm jaded into thinking that way from my days back in my fraternity but when I think conversation with girl in bar, I'm thinking of doing the things I'd tell my friends she and I did anyway.   

[Rochelle]

Are you saying that every woman has her price?  I mean, you're in what seems like a happy marriage (unless I'm confusing you with someone else), and I assume you don't have a price.

Of course I have a price, or else I wouldn't be married My husband pays it every day of his life
Not all prices are in dollars and cents, either, which is why men have to give women flowers and chocolates and be nice in the hopes that eventually they'll reach the right price.

Prostitutes just have a pricing schedule that's easier to figure out