BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- Police arrested five women for alleged prostitution Friday afternoon near Jefferson Elementary School -- proof that the city needs to deter the crime by publicizing photos of convicted prostitutes and their customers, says Councilman Richard S. Holzberger.
"I think the fact that they got five of them in broad daylight around an elementary school shows this problem is worse than my colleagues on council might want to admit," Mr. Holzberger said. "I think it shows we have a great need for my ordinance."
Mr. Holzberger has proposed an ordinance that calls for the publication of names and photographs of people convicted on prostitution- related offenses. He expects to formally introduce the ordinance at council's Oct. 28 meeting.
Friday's arrests also show the value of the new "Safeschool Help-line," an anonymous crime tip hot line run by a Columbus-area firm that takes messages for school districts, said Joni Copas, Hamilton schools' spokeswoman. The arrests, made after an undercover officer allegedly was solicited by the women for sex, resulted from a tip the hot line fielded and passed along to Mrs. Copas on Monday. Mrs. Copas relayed the tip to police, who began an immediate investigation, said Sgt. Thomas Kilgour, city police spokesman. "This type of criminal activity occurring in and around an elementary school is very disturbing to the police department and the community," he said. "We take it seriously and we started acting on it right away."
Police identified the suspects as Elrena Witt of Oxford, Peggy Marshbank of Cincinnati, and Evelyn Lane, Tracey Roark and Christina Boomershine, all of Hamilton.
Under what Mr. Holzberger calls his "whore-dinance," the women's names and photographs would be published in a local newspaper if they are convicted and fail to appeal within 30 days. Any of the prostitutes' customers also would also be subject to the publicity.
