Cincinnati- You can find just about anything online these days, including prostitutes.
Police said hiring one is almost as easy as ordering a pizza and it’s changing the way officers police.
Police said they still spend most of their time on the street making sure neighborhoods are safe but now they are logging hours online as well.
“In the past, you had to go to an area physically to find a prostitute. You had to go to a place where prostitute was going to be and you had to make the deal face to face and people wouldn’t do it because they were afraid of going there, they were afraid of being seen there. Today, they don’t have to do that. Today they’re realizing, ‘Oh, I can do that from my home,'” said Detective David Ausdenmoore, R.E.C.I. Task Force.
Ausdenmoore said these days, hiring a prostitute is just a mouse click away.
“I came up with 11 Cincinnati locations or 11 escort services in the Cincinnati area, some very blatant,” Ausdenmoore said.
Sites offering private massages for nearly $200 and nude shows for $300 are often just fronts for prostitution,” officers said.
It’s a growing business partly because it’s so easy to do.
“You key in your name, the time you want your appointment, how you pay,” Ausdenmoore said.
Just this week, Cincinnati officers said they made an appointment for sex with 32-year-old Wendi Copper. They found Copper over the Internet and said what she was willing to do for $300, instead, landed her a date in court.
“I do anticipate, unfortunately, more arrests of this type from this area,” said Captain Paul Humphries, of the Cincinnati Police.
Police said they don’t get many complaints about online prostitution because it’s not very visible, but they said it’s just as dangerous for both the prostitutes and the people who hire them.
Police said they are seeing all kinds of crimes being committed on the Internet from theft and child enticements to identity theft. It is possible to use software to block some dangerous, sites but nothing’s foolproof.
Police recommend keeping your computer in a public room of your house — like the living room — so kids and teens can be watched.