West Des Moines police released details of a prostitution sting today that involved the arrest of 13 men from several different cities. Lieutenant Jeff Miller says they started the investigation after a call from an apartment complex. He says the managers of the complex contacted them and said there was a lot of foot traffic in an out of one room.
Miller says police investigated and found a woman who admitted she was using the room for prostitution, and the woman then agreed to help police and they set up the sting. Miller says the woman was advertising through an on-line dating service, and that is how she lined up so many customers.
Miller says the technology and computer age makes it easier for people to contact one another. Miller says this many arrests for prostitution is unusual for West Des Moines. Miller says in his 30 years they’ve arrested "a few men and just only a few women" for prostitution. He says they will continue to monitor the dating services to make sure if this is happening, they will investigate it.
Miller says the woman was an adult, but they are not releasing her name or other details as she is considered a confidential informant. The men were all arrested in February and charged with prostitution.
They men are: 52-year-old Wesley Taylor of Fort Dodge; 60-year-old Danny Malloy 60 Montezuma; 49-year-old Rody Bennett of Russell; 50-year-old Brent Rippentrop of Waukee; 51-year-old David Vestal of Clive; 47-yeard-olc Robert Kerzman South Elgin, Illinois; 61-year-old Armando Villareal of Des Moines; 52-yeard-old Mark Rasmussen of Jefferson; 57-year-old Michael McClure of Dallas Center; 64-yeard-old Kenneth Krueger of Iowa Falls; 52-year-old Ted Sage of Ames; 43-year-old Earl Ogden of Huxley; 70-year-old Kenneth Denger of Perry.
The men were all processed and released on a citation to appear in court at a later date.