A website that Detroit police fear may be linked to the killing of at least three women is a popular way for local prostitutes to link up with customers, say Akron vice police.
While Akron police see no local links to the Detroit Backpage.com cases, at least one area woman who posts ads on the site says she is more wary after hearing about the three slain women.
“I don’t really have any problems as far as safety,” said the woman who identified herself only as Ashlee. “I’ve been doing this for six years. I don’t really have any concerns other than the recent episode that happened in the Detroit news the other night.”
However, she added, “I’m just seeing people only that I know. No new clientele at all.”
Detroit police say a killer might be targeting escorts after learning that three of four women found dead in car trunks within blocks of each other had placed sex-related ads on Backpage.com, the Associated Press reported.
Ashlee, the Akron area woman, advertises on Backpage with the hot link: “$90 before 5pm - 27” and says she offers “True experience. Certified massage. Erotic dancer.”
Lt. Terry Pasko of the Akron Police Department’s vice squad said he knows of no Akron links to the Detroit crimes, but the city is not immune to online solicitations.
“Backpage is widely used by local prostitutes and has been for years, and that’s no secret,” Pasko said. “In the past we have done things to curtail that. We have worked out of hotels at various times when it is necessary.”
The appeal of online ads for prostitutes is that they can get higher fees, especially if they use a hotel.
“We get prostitutes that will work the street, and the services they would normally get $40 for in the back of the car or whatever now jumps up to $150 or up,” Pasko said. “This doesn’t change the atmosphere or the way the girl looks or anything about it, it’s just that it is more lucrative. People feel like they go to the hotel and they think they are getting Julia Roberts, and that’s not the case at all.”
Pasko said officers hear many stories about prostitutes being robbed by clients and tales of “johns” being held up when they arrive for a sexual encounter. Few incidents result in charges.
“Both sides of the coin — whether it is the girl who is getting robbed or the john getting robbed — are vastly underreported because you’ve got an awkward situation. How [are] you going to explain it to the police; how [are] you going to explain it to your loved one?”
Drugs are often involved, too, he said.
“Ninety-five percent of our prostitutes are drug addicts, and that’s from the last six years of experience,” Pasko said. “I can’t think of a single prostitute I’ve arrested who was not a drug addict. I’m not talking about national statistics, but in Akron I’m telling you that’s the way it is.”
Because most hotels have moved out of Akron, many of the crimes happen outside the city.
“They’ll shoot up to Montrose; they’ll shoot to 77 south, the Arlington Street area, which is actually outside the city, but we know that a lot of our prostitutes are working outside the city limits,” Pasko said.
Coordination with other departments, including Copley, Fairlawn, Springfield and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, is common.
Pasko said Illinois has started legal action to declare Backpage.com as a criminal tool and force it to eliminate its escort section. He would support a similar move in Ohio.
He said Akron police make about 300 prostitution-related arrests a year.
Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com.
