Alleged prostitutes arrested in St Ann
AS the police continue to tackle human trafficking across the island, three women were arrested and charged on the weekend in connection with prostitution.
Natalee Powell, 24, of a St Mary address; Melissa Thomas Brooks, 33, of a Runaway Bay, St Ann address; and Juliet Campbell, 30, of a Parry Town address, also in St Ann, were arrested and charge with importuning for immoral purposes.
The operation was carried out on Saturday on Back Street in St Ann by members of the Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime (C-TOC) Investigation Branch in its renewed drive to clamp down on human trafficking.
It is reported that between 12:00 am and 4:00 am, an operation was carried out at a night club in the area.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Victor Barrett, who led the operation, told the Jamaica Observer that undercover police officers were allegedly offered sex for sale by Brooks, Powell and Campbell.
Barrett said the women were subsequently arrested and charged.
More than 50 people were reportedly interrogated.
The Observer has learnt that a number of the women who were questioned were not from St Ann.
Barrett confirmed that some of the females were from ‘Back Road’ in Portmore, St Catherine.
The Observer has also learnt that a number of residents in St Ann were using their premises to accommodate immoral behaviour.
Some of the residents, the Observer was told, even constructed board structures at the front of their properties that are furnished with beds to accommodate prostitutes and their clients.
“A man who was seen sitting at the front of his property said he charged $300 for 15 minutes to use the structure,” a source said on Saturday.
Barrett pointed out that individuals will question why these areas are being targeted, but the assistant superintendent said prostitution contributes to criminal activities.
“Prostitution is still an illegal activity. It also corrupts public morals and it just festers into a wider problem. We at the C-TOC are employing the broken window theory, where we arrest small problems before it festers into monsters,” Barrett said.
