Law enforcement agents across Florida spend enormous amounts of time, money and resources on planning and executing sex crime stings. It is not surprising, then, that they want their efforts to pay off. This generally means they want to arrest as many people as they can and file multiple charges against each person. These undercover stings can make a great headline in the news, but it is important not to lose sight of the individuals whose lives may dramatically change in the blink of an eye.
Recently, for example, police in Daytona Beach, Florida, announced that they had arrested 14 men during an undercover prostitution sting.
The men who were arrested have been charged and could be looking at some very serious penalties if they are convicted. This particular sting reportedly was aimed at arresting the people who were out looking for prostitutes in the area, and the charges that resulted from the sting included resisting arrest, aiding/abetting/committing prostitution, solicitation to commit prostitution as well as other charges.
This recent sting came just a few days after police conducted a sting aimed at arresting women accused of prostitution. Those efforts resulted in eight females getting arrested.
No matter what side of the transaction a person is on, the fact is that anyone arrested for crimes stemming from prostitution could be facing very serious penalties if they are convicted. Even before a person has a chance to defend themselves, his or her name, picture and alleged crime can be splashed across newspapers and devastate a person’s family, career and reputation. In order to prevent further damage from destroying a person’s future, it can be crucial for people facing sex crime allegations to work with a criminal defense attorney to defend themselves and work to avoid conviction and overly harsh penalties.
Source: The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “14 men snagged in reverse Datyona Beach prostitution net,” Patricio G. Balona, May 12, 2014