Misdemeanor charges were filed yesterday against 11 men and a woman following a prostitution sting in the city.
Each of the men was identified by New Castle police and state troopers as an alleged john who tried to solicit an undercover female trooper.
A woman also was arrested for trying to solicit an undercover male state trooper.
The charges were filed in the court of District Judge Melissa Amodie, who said all of the accused will receive summonses by mail to appear in court.
“We have been trying — and we’re going to continue to try — to curb the prostitution in town by going after the (women) and the johns,” New Castle Police Chief Tom Sansone said.
According to paperwork filed in court by police, the undercover detail was conducted in the parking lot of Plaza South and at intersections on New Castle’s South Side, where women are known to loiter to be hired for sexual activity.
The purpose of the detail was to identify any women engaging in the activity, and any men patronizing them, police said.
The stings are being set up not only because the activity is illegal, he said, but also dangerous because of the connection to the city’s drug activity.
He also cited the danger to the women involved. Three women who were alleged prostitutes have been found dead within the past two years in the New Castle area.
A few months ago, the city police initiated an undercover operation where several women were arrested for prostitution in the downtown and on the South Side.
The July 10 effort, which took place between 7 and 10 p.m. on the South Side, was initiated by the city police, who had requested help on the operation from the state police, Sansone said.
“We know there’s a problem here,” he said, adding the women are becoming familiar with the faces of city undercover officers, so police asked outside state troopers for help.
“We will continue to go outside (the city) for assistance,” he said.
The men who are supporting the prostitution business by soliciting the women “need to stop,” Sansone warned, “or they will risk being arrested.”
A bail bondsman and two men in their 80s are among 11 men charged for allegedly soliciting prostitutes.
The arrests were part of a sting set up last week by New Castle and state police as part of ongoing efforts to stop prostitution in the city.
A Wilmington Township woman accused of prostituting herself to an undercover trooper also was arrested July 10.
The charges were filed before District Judge Melissa Amodie. Their preliminary hearings are set for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 21 in Lawrence County Central Court.
Ethel Margaret Moyer, 41, of 381 Wilson Mill Road, faces one count of prostitution for allegedly soliciting a plainclothes trooper. Police said she got into the front passenger seat of the trooper’s car and asked him if he was a cop. He said no and she said she would provide a certain sexual favor for $20, police said.
Each of the alleged male offenders also faces one count of prostitution, a third-degree misdemeanor. They are:
•Joel Alfred Bisso, 40, of Apt. 2, 469 E. Washington St., stopped on Mill Street around 9 p.m. in a brown Chevrolet Blazer and offered the undercover trooper $50 for sexual favors before he started his shift at a local restaurant, according to police.
•Donald Bush, 53, of 2615 New Butler Road allegedly stopped his maroon 1997 Buick LeSabre about 8:30 p.m. at a Mill Street intersection and offered an undercover female trooper $30 for sexual favors, police said.
•Carlos Cardenas, 40, of 3007 Spring Garden Ave. allegedly requested a certain sexual act from the undercover trooper in exchange for $20. Police said he had pulled his white 1994 Plymouth Acclaim sedan into Plaza South parking lot around 9:15 p.m.
•Louis Anthony DeNome, 57, of 221 Village Lane, New Wilmington, allegedly pulled into the lot of Plaza South around 8 p.m. in a white Toyota Rav 4 and offered the undercover officer $20 for sex. DeNome, a partner in Cook-DeNome Bail Bonds, told police he did not want to be charged because it would harm his business, police said.
•Domenick S. DiGiammarino, 51, of 1727 E. Washington St. allegedly pulled up to the undercover trooper in a Chevrolet Tahoe in the parking lot of Plaza South around 9:40 p.m. and offered her $200 for sex.
•Michael N. Ferrare, 80, of 111 W. Fairmont Ave. allegedly pulled his gray, 1995 Lincoln Town Car into Plaza South around 7:10 p.m. and propositioned the undercover officer for “a few dollars.”
•Paul Harley Redmond, 43, of 823 Frank Ave. allegedly pulled into Plaza South around 9:10 p.m. and offered the undercover trooper cash for sex. According to police, Redmond requested his charges be mailed to a different address to prevent his wife from finding out.
•Daniel B. Rote, 52, of Apt. 12, 459 Old Route 19, allegedly pulled up on Mill Street around 10 p.m. in a green Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and told an undercover trooper he would pay $20 for sex.
•William Franklin Sutton, 62, of Harrisville allegedly pulled up at Mill and Reynolds streets around 8 p.m. in a brown Dodge truck. Sutton, who police said is hearing impaired, allegedly made a hand gesture to indicate sexual intercourse and said $20.
•Lloyd Thompson, 86, of 29 Orchard Way allegedly pulled up on Mill Street around 7:50 p.m. in a gold 2005 Hyundai, and offered the undercover trooper $10 for a specific sex act.
•Alan Victor Williams Jr., 22, of 419 Epworth St. allegedly pulled into the Plaza South lot around 9 p.m. in a red 2000 Dodge Neon sedan and offered the female trooper $5 for certain acts.
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