Pastor, Eight Others Arrested in Prostitution Sting

Source: KCRG

Rev. Jonathan L. Offt, 41, of Cedar Rapids, the senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, was the first person arrested in the operation conducted by the Marion Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, police said. All of the men responded to an advertisement on a website and arranged to meet an undercover female officer who was posing as a prostitute.

Marion police Sgt. Lance Miller said Offt arrived at the meeting place and was arrested when he offered money in exchange for a sex act. Officers in tactical gear performed the arrests.

“After that, he was pretty sullen,” Miller said.

Offt’s name was removed from the church website Monday afternoon, and Rev. David Miller’s title was updated from assistant pastor to pastor.

Read more: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Pastor-Eight-Others-Arrested-in-Prostitution-Sting-131989808.html

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Sigh.

the message counts, not the messenger. if the messenger counts more than the message, that person should be removed...

Sullen for being busted or sullen that his sexual fantasies weren't coming true?

:shrug:

If so then I must question why law enforcement is wasting taxpayer money on this.

LOL at these Rambo wannabes.

Signed, A combat vet.

WTF?!? :eyes: They need to cut their budget, along with the DoD.

Most johns can be handled by an ordinary plainclothes cop, or certainly a typical uniformed one.

The apparent irony is the reason for this story getting traction, no pun intended, here on DU. It just plain rubs some wrong. It's not the deed as much as it's the dirt.

It's much easier and cheaper just to create "instant criminals" who can be arrested on the spot.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ey0zU879yQ">Your Fascist Superhero



K&R

apparently, when presented with cash, there's a chemical reaction with the ink that makes our brains turn to mush, we flop over in an involuntary muscle spasm and spread our legs. And then men (who are slavering monsters, one and all) climb on board and take advantage. We are therefore incapable of choosing for ourselves and must be protected from the slavering monsters with the righteous, godly armor of a criminal record and a permanent bar from most forms of legitimate employment. And all slavering monsters must be jailed. Expense?? Pfft! No expense should be spared!!

I wish I could use the sarcasm tag, but there are really people who think that way.

By corporations, by "laws" such as the Patriot act, by contracts with dozens of pages of fine print

I have no objection to erotica, or sex. I DO object to the trivializing of the notion of consent, and in the big picture, the number of prostitutes who "consent" to their lifestyle as opposed to being driven to it, is pretty small.

If they are really consenting, and not just trying to make an economic deal, why don't they just have sex then? Presumably both parties like it, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.

A wonderful thought and aptly written. +1

the reaction society has to it is completely counter-productive.

Women in bad situations are driven to things they may not want to do, so we send in cops with riot gear to arrest them, charge them with a crime, put their name in the paper, and give them a criminal record. And in some areas put them on the sex offender registry. (Only the woman, of course. Wouldn't want to hurt a man's credibility in the community or anything.) It not only doesn't help the bad situation, it actually makes it worse and makes it more likely to be permanent.

It drives me crazy that the same people who likely (hopefully) would be opposed to eliminating work safety standards, minimum wage and other labor protections suddenly believe that "consent" is the only thing that matters.

In this day and age, I'm sure many would be willing to consent to all manner of abuse for some under the table cash. Should we legalize every transaction based on the flimsy consent argument?

not so for the Pastor.

Just not in the way they were planning on.:)

Oh those Holy and Pious Family Values!

Hope they got good value for the money!!!!!

Here's the story from the Gazette, complete with this photo lineup.



...that's the way we all became the Brady Bunch!

Hell...none of them that I personally would want to be sleeping with...free or otherwise!

Screw like bunnies all day long for free and nobody cares, but hand over a $100 bill for the same act and you get arrested, fined, and publicly humiliated.

Land of the free?

PDF Link: http://trinitylutherchurch.giving.officelive.com/Documents/TRINITY%20TIMES%20February%202011.pdf

http://trinitylutherchurch.giving.officelive.com/Documents/TRINITY%20TIMES%20February%202011.pdf


See also:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Rev.+Jonathan+L.+Offt&ie=UTF-8#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=Rev.+Jonathan+Offt+-prostitution&pbx=1&oq=Rev.+Jonathan+Offt+-prostitution&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=76720l76720l5l76974l1l1l0l0l0l0l130l130l0.1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=bd638b897581bb57&biw=2000&bih=855

Jesus and his wife have forgiven him.

That's the only crime I can see that took place here.

when they entice or persuade you to do something that you wouldn't ordinarily do.

Just regulate it and be done with the whole thing

I don't care about that stuff. I say that and I really do care about the women and wish they could find themselves a better way to live.

But dealing with the reality of it, prostitution will never go away.

If it's regulated, it will move from the underground to the "aboveground". If you had to have a license, you know whose in it, and who controls it. It would offer better conditions such as frequent health checks, approved working conditions, and more say in what that "profession" is.

When something like this is illegal, it basically makes everything "legal". No age requirements, no safety requirements, and whatever the pimps or the customers want, they get without concern for the women/men doing the actual work.

I'm in Italy now and you can see prostitutes dropped off in the fields next to roads waiting for the johns. They're from Africa and Eastern Europe, being used by the pimps for their own gain. There is nothing stopping the pimps and johns from abusing these people. The women/men are stuck without a voice in the whole matter. Basically slaves earning no money and living in danger daily.

If it was regulated, you would have a say in where these transactions take place. No one would choose to being taken out to a field or being stuck in a basement with a dirty mattress (I don't think the johns would chose that either). You would have a say in how much you were being paid. No one would choose to work for free. You would be required to get frequent health checks. No one would choose to get, keep, and pass diseases. It would be taxed, meaning you now how a voice in the political system of that area and a portion of that money would be used to improve the lives of those people. Johns would no longer go to the ones not following the rules when the conditions are better in the places that are.

Do I personally think prostitution should exist in society? No, in a perfect society it would not. But it does, and making a moral issue illegal does not solve the problems mentioned above.

and children in the sex trade will end.

I'm not hopeful that it will end very soon.

I've never understood why men would even consider doing this sort of thing. I just don't get it.