Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The area is largely commercial, with houses scattered in between. It has long attracted prostitutes and their ``johns'': a well-traveled thoroughfare with desolate dead ends nearby.
But within the past several months, the sexual activity has become brash, in your face, day and night.
Zimmerman points to a house across the street where women turned tricks on a mattress plopped on the lawn. He walks in an alley near his business where an empty condom wrapper and liquor bottles litter the brush.
It used to be ``confined to the houses,'' said Zimmerman, who owns Roanoke Electrical Zupply at 912 Salem Ave. S.W. ``But what Roanoke has become is a hub of prostitution.''
In an attempt to underscore how common the crime was in this Southwest Roanoke neighborhood, police and prosecutors grouped an unprecedented number of prostitution cases in Roanoke General District Court on Monday.
In all, 23 women and one male transvestite were charged with prostitution. Twenty men, arrested for soliciting sex and charged under the prostitution statute, also appeared before Judge Vincent Lilley.
``We wanted to show the court the scope of the problem and the impact on the neighborhood and the neighborhood's businesses,'' said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dennis Nagel.
Prostitution is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
No defendant received the maximum penalty. Only two cases were dismissed - one because a magistrate wrote the wrong statute number on an arrest warrant; another because Lilley found that there wasn't enough evidence for a conviction.
The cases came from a string of arrests by Roanoke vice officers during the past three weeks. The undercover sting operations concentrated on an area between the 300 and 1000 blocks of Salem Avenue and portions of Patterson, Rorer and Norfolk Avenues Southwest.
In some cases, male undercover officers posed as johns. In others, a female undercover officer posed as a prostitute.
This year, vice officers have made 102 prostitution arrests, according to Vice Sgt. Mitch Viar. On average they arrest 80 to 90 men and women on prostitution charges each year.
``What's driving most of these people here are drug problems,'' Viar said. ``The only recourse I have to combat the problem is arrest them. The outcome of what happens depends on the judge.''
Business owners and residents in the Southwest Roanoke neighborhood have continually complained to City Council and police about the fallout from prostitution - children finding used condoms, business clients being solicited for sex.
``We're not here just prosecuting cases against morals," Nagel argued in court Monday. ``But there's an economic impact, a quality of life being lost.''
The strategy was to illustrate to Lilley how many defendants had prior records. The johns who were first-time offenders were offered a plea agreement. If they pleaded guilty they would receive a 30-day suspended jail sentence and a fine of $500. Thirteen men took that option.
Two men did not appear in court and warrants were issued for their arrest. The cases against four men were continued so they could get lawyers.
One Southwest Roanoke man pleaded not guilty. He told Lilley he was just circling the red-light district of Salem Avenue Southwest for fun. He found it, but then discovered the prostitute was really an undercover police officer.
Lilley convicted him, sentencing the 25-year-old to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.
Six of the 23 females pleaded guilty or were convicted. Nine women did not show up in court and warrants were issued for their arrest. Six cases were continued until the women could get lawyers. Two cases were dismissed.
The transvestite was convicted after pleading not guilty.
One woman who pleaded not guilty said she was 7 1/2 months pregnant, tricking to buy crack. She had been convicted of similar charges three times before.
She told Lilley she was trying to clean up her life. Lilley found her guilty, sentencing her to eight months in jail.
``I think it's time to break the cycle,'' Lilley said to the woman. ``I think it's to your benefit to be in jail and have the baby.''
``What'll happen to her?'' she asked.
``I don't know, ma'am, but I suspect it'll be better than what will happen in your current condition,'' Lilley said.
The prostitution cases that were continued were scheduled to be heard in General District Court on Aug. 28.
by CNB