Investigation

Sex for sale: Lee County cracks down on prostitution

Prostitutes have long rap sheets, residents have had enough

By Mike Mason

CREATED Sep. 5, 2012 - UPDATED: Sep. 5, 2012

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  • Southwest Florida prostitutes tainting paradise. Women selling their bodies for a price! Next to homes, parading on the streets, an underground business out in the open for your children to see. Lee County deputies staging a prostitution sting in Nor Video by fox4now.com

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LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Southwest Florida prostitutes tainting paradise. Women selling their bodies for a price.

Next to homes, parading on the streets, an underground business out in the open for your children to see. Lee County deputies staging a prostitution sting in North Fort Myers, sending a message to anyone engaging in illegal sex. 

 
Tonight, we're hitting the streets, speaking with women accused of selling their bodies and we're also hearing from concerned parents who say they've had enough. Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason taking us inside the seedy world of sex for sale.
 
It's called the world's oldest profession; women selling their bodies for sex. It happens everywhere but the Lee County Sheriff is sending prostitutes a strong message.
 
Sheriff Mike Scott: "We're going to let these people know they're not going to walk up and down our street parading their bodies around for sale it's just not going to happen."
 
On Tuesday, undercover deputies arresting three women for prostitution, all along North Tamiami Trail in North Fort Myers, not far from this motel. We spoke with several people who currently live there and they've all had enough.
 
Gladys Garay: "It's just nasty, it's wrong."
 
Victoria Poe: "It's just not good, especially when you've got people around here with little kids and stuff like that they don't need to be seeing all that.”
Mike Mason: "You don't want it in this area.”
Victoria Poe: "No, I don't."
 
It's no secret that most prostitutes work the streets to feed their drug addictions.
 
Victoria Poe: "They're very trashy, it's definitely something you don't want to be a part of."
 
Sheriff Mike Scott: "Whether it's a high-end call girl scenario in a fancy hotel room or a street walker typically drugs are associated with that activity and other crimes as well."
 
All three women recently arrested have long rap sheets for prostitution and other crimes. Michele Parke has been arrested for things like an out of county hit, larceny and selling cocaine.
 
We caught up with one woman in North Fort Myers who didn't want us to show her face on camera. She recognized two of the women arrested in the sex sting and admits she does what she has to do to survive.  She also says she has no desire to stop or go to a drug rehab.
 
So as long as there are customers seeking sex, women will continue walking the streets and they will get picked up one way or the other.
 
Sheriff Mike Scott: "Take them off the street put them in jail for a day or two we know they're going to come back out but we're not going anywhere either."
 
Typically prostitution is a misdemeanor but all three women who were just arrested were charged with felonies since this was a repeat offense.