DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Yet another Daytona Beach prostitution sting nabbed an unexpected suspect, a teacher. Just last week, high school football coach John Maronto was arrested for the same thing.
MUG SHOTS: Suspected Johns | Suspected Prostitutes
The police chief told WFTV he hopes to use the "embarrassment" factor to drive prostitution out of the city.
At one of the most tourist-filled intersections of the city, International Speedway and A-1-A, Daytona Beach police have made more than 50 prostitution-related arrests in the last three weeks. The latest roundup, over the weekend, involved at least a dozen alleged johns (see mugs). Among those arrested in the latest sting was 34-year-old Christopher Hughes, who identified himself as a teacher from Hialeah, Florida.
The suspected prostitutes are going to jail, too, after undercover officers solicit them for sex (see mugs).
"It's a cancer that gets into your neighborhood. Look at all the crimes that spawn off of that, burglaries, robberies, drug sales," Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood told WFTV.
Three prostitution arrests becomes a felony crime, but police said prosecutors and judges faced with stacked dockets are often forced to take pleas for lesser crimes and criminals just go back to the streets.
Chitwood said he's trying to get suspects trespassed from the spot where they're arrested so they can't come back.
"Police are also still trying to keep people from coming to Daytona Beach, specifically for prostitution. In this last round of arrests, they got people from Gainesville, from Crescent City, Davie, and from Ohio, Texas and even Mexico," Chitwood said.
The city still sends letters and STD information to the homes of people arrested with the hope it will discourage them from coming back.
Chitwood still has a desire to put the embarrassment factor to work even further by putting pictures of johns on posters, flyers or even billboards. If people know their face might end up there, he hopes they'll just stay away altogether.
WFTV
