Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low around 55F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Updated: November 27, pm. The vice-chairman of the House Education Committee wants schools to teach students less about dating -- but tighten up laws requring them to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Maricopa County sheriff's deputies swooped down on dozens of homes and massage parlors Thursday, including several in Scottsdale, Tempe and Mesa, in what could be the nation's largest single-day crackdown on the illicit sex trade.
Seventy-two people were arrested. Authorities said many women between 20 and 60 years old were operating brothels out of middle-class homes and massage parlors throughout the Valley. Among the men arrested Thursday were those who agreed to pay for sexual favors from undercover female officers. The officers posed as the women who had been arrested earlier in the day and as escorts in advertisements taken out by the sheriff's office.
Everyone arrested was detained and booked in the parking lot of Park Central Mall in Phoenix to prevent them from tipping off associates and clients. Once they are booked into the county's Madison Street Jail in Phoenix, they will not be allowed to post bail until they submit to tests for sexually transmitted diseases under the Quarantine Act, a new state requirement. Paul Chagolla, a spokesman with the sheriff's office, said Robert Stapley was arrested at a motel in the south East Valley after calling an undercover officer posing as a prostitute.
Clearly, this is a troubling issue for everyone in my family, however, we will stand behind Robert and his family to support them through this situation. The statement asked the media to respect the Stapleys' privacy and said Don Stapley would have no further comment.
Operation House Call began after three women suspected of selling sex were arrested at massage parlor raids in Fountain Hills and Tempe. Don Schneidmiller. Targeting prostitutes and customers in so many ways at the same time is highly unusual, Schneidmiller said. After the raids in late August, detectives answered advertisements for massage parlors and escorts and quickly realized the ads were fronts for prostitution, Schneidmiller said.
