published: Friday, January 18, 2013

Local men charged during 4-day prostitution sting

Local men charged during 4-day prostitution sting

MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer

millardives@dailycommercial.com

An alleged offer to a prostitute of a free apartment for a year in exchange for sex apparently was too good to be true -- at least for one man reportedly offering the deal.

A 38-year-old Eustis man was jailed Sunday after making the deal to a woman he thought was a prostitute, but who turned out to be an undercover detective in a prostitution sting that netted more than 75 arrests, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Fredrick Antonio Williams is accused of offering the undercover female detective a free apartment for a year in exchange for occasional sex and a cut of her profits, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood. Williams was charged with deriving from the proceeds of prostitution, which some call pimping, jailed and released on a $1,000 bond.

Sheriff's detectives began working the four-day investigation last Thursday which targeted "online e-commerce sites related to men and women who were advertising to commit prostitution and solicit for prostitution." According to the sheriff's office, while the 78 suspects were jailed on an array of charges that included drug possession, traffic offenses and battery on a law enforcement officer, most were arrested on accusations of soliciting prostitutes via online advertisements.

Williams, a forklift driver, was one of four suspects arrested on deriving from the proceeds of prostitution.

Wood said it isn't rare for someone trying to solicit sex from someone to make an offer of employment.

Another Lake County man, Arthur W. Jordan, 41, of Mascotte, also was arrested in the sting on Sunday. He was charged with solicitation of prostitution after being accused of offering a woman $100 for sex. Jordan was released on a $250 bond.

In an unrelated operation by Seminole County deputies, Kory Scott Weber, 25, of Mount Dora, was among 50 suspects arrested last week in a child predator sting. "Operation Cardea" targeted adult suspects who went online in an attempt to have sex with a minor.