On February 21, 2019, a woman was arrested for promoting prostitution at a New Holland Spa in Lancaster County. The CSE Institute previously reported on this incident and addressed the allegations of prostitution along with what may be considered outrageous police conduct that occurred during the investigation.
Now, a month later, the landlord is filing charges against the spa where the tenant was arrested for promoting prostitution. According to Lancaster Online, the property owner, Scott R. Monger of Monger II LLC, is asking for judgment and costs due to “breach of contract due to police activity.” In support of Monger’s breach of contract allegation, it is alleged that after the tenant’s arrest, police were granted a search warrant to seize cameras and call logs. It is alleged that the tenant was receiving calls for the spa on her personal cell phone. At this time, a hearing is scheduled for March 28, 2019, before District Judge Jonathon Heisse.
While the CSE Institute certainly does not condone breach of contract, the CSE Institute hopes to educate property managers and land owners that women arrested for prostitution are often not criminals, but rather victims of commercial sexual exploitation and should thus be treated as such. For that reason, we urge the adoption of the Nordic Model which seeks to target and punish sex buyers while providing vital social services and exit strategies to those being exploited.
Additionally, it is striking that the article, which addresses the prostitution investigation, does not address the egregious police conduct that occurred within the spa. As part of the undercover investigation, an investigating officer reportedly waited until after receiving sexual services before arresting the tenant for prostitution. Law enforcement officers, like anyone else, are breaking the law if they solicit and accept paid sexual services. In order to effectively decrease prostitution and maintain the trust of the general public, the CSE Institute discourages law enforcement from receiving sexual services during prostitution investigations. Please refer to our previous report for further discussion of outrageous police conduct.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or Villanova University.