On August 11, 2016 in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, fourteen people were arrested and charged with prostitution and related offenses at several undisclosed locations. Three women were arrested and charged with prostitution. Eleven men were arrested and charged with patronizing prostitution. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Dauphin County Adult Probation, Harrisburg City Police, and Highspire Police Department assisted the Susquehanna Township Police Department in this major investigation.
Then, in early September 2016, undercover police officers again arrested and charged three women at hotels in Susquehanna Township with prostitution. The first two women, Kimberly Rexroad and Wei Xingzhi, were arrested on September 2, 2016 after allegedly agreeing to engage in sexual relations with an undercover officer in exchange for money. The undercover officer set up this arrangement through backpage.com, a notorious website where prostituted persons are advertised for commercial sex. As a result of this sting, Rexroad is now in Dauphin County Prison awaiting extradition to Maryland for an outstanding arrest warrant. Xingzhi is also in Dauphin County Prison, but on $5,000.00 bail. The third woman, Morgan Valentino, was arrested on September 5, 2016. Police received a complaint that an individual in a hotel was engaging in drugs and prostitution. Police arrived to address the complaint and allegedly found Valentino in a hotel room “cooking and smoking crack cocaine and also working as a prostitute.” As a result, Valentino is currently in Dauphin County Prison; her bail has been set at $15,000.00.
News sources have been reporting criminal charges to the public since time immemorial. As seen in the cases of Rexroad, Xingzhi, and Valentino, many news sources selectively choose to highlight the arrests of prostituted persons over the arrests of those who purchase sex—those who create the demand for commercial sex. What some news sources fail to recognize is that reporting the arrests of ‘prostitutes’ without reporting the arrests of those who purchase them for commercial sex casts a heavy shadow of criminal culpability over only several of the actors in this story.
We recognize that news sources may only be reporting the arrests of prostituted persons because, unfortunately, they may be the only individuals targeted for arrest. Undoubtedly, the Pennsylvania crimes code criminalizes both prostitution and patronizing prostitution, but there is a major disparity in the number of arrests made for each crime. One reason for the disparity in the numbers may lie in society’s perception of the sex trade based on heteronormative notions. Prostituted women are commonly perceived as a danger to society and probable criminals based on their perceived uncontrolled sexual proclivity. Not only are these patriarchal notions outlandish, they are false. But once the media labels prostituted persons as the sole criminals, they are denied a chance to claim their own identity and characteristics.
On a daily basis, prostituted persons face immeasurable hardships well beyond the scope of their arrest. For instance, court-ordered bail for patronizing prostitution is much lower than that for prostitution. Kevin Anderson’s bail was set at $3,000.00. Eric Zook pled guilty to patronizing prostitution and paid his $706.00 case balance. Meanwhile, Xingzhi and Valentino, two prostituted individuals from the September 2016 arrests, are expected to pay $5,000.00 and $15,000.00, respectively. Additionally, it is common for traffickers to bail their victims out of jail and use the bail paid as a ‘debt owed.’ Thus, by now owing their trafficker the bail money, the prostituted persons will have to ‘work’ to pay off their debt. Thus, arresting prostituted persons does little to combat the issue of prostitution; it often affirms the cyclical nature of commercial sexual exploitation.
However, police departments throughout Pennsylvania are beginning to recognize the innumerable issues with the way prostituted persons are treated within the criminal justice system. For instance, the Dauphin County Police Department, as a part of the National John Suppression Initiative, has conducted a series of stings aimed at encouraging a shift in police practice. New police procedures and tactics throughout the Commonwealth are aimed at targeting those who buy, instead of those who sell sex (or are being sold for sex). This procedure is commonly known as targeting ‘demand.’ The effectiveness of targeting demand is being appreciated beyond Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, all the way to Seattle, Washington and Cook County, Illinois.
The CSE Institute urges those facilitating the conversation about commercial sexual exploitation and its ‘criminal’ actors to be cognizant about their role in pushing for policy reform. News reports can—and should—be navigated fluidly, without putting all criminal culpability on the prostituted persons. While prostitution may be a crime, it is vital to recognize prostituted persons, first and foremost, as victims—or at least as only one party in the commission of prostitution. In the same vein, the CSE Institute applauds Dauphin County’s effort to approach commercial sexual exploitation as a demand-driven industry that may be addressed through new ways of policing. The Dauphin County Police Department’s efforts to identify patrons of prostitution, tackle the demand for commercial sex, and ultimately recognize the role of prostituted persons as victims in commercial sexual exploitation have set an example for law enforcement in Pennsylvania that we hope will ultimately be followed by all.