Prostitution Sweep Nets Convicted Rapist
Hemet, Ca - Over the past week, the Hemet Police Department has conducted several counter-prostitution and intelligence gathering sweeps, which resulted in several arrests, including the arrest of a registered sex offender who has previously been convicted of rape. Michael Jerome Curtis, a 58 year old Hemet resident, was arrested on 4/23/13 for soliciting sex from a 17-year old prostitute in the 1000 block of West Florida Ave. Curtis, who was also on parole at the time of the arrest, is being held without bail. The prostitute, whose identity will not be released due to her age, was also arrested and passed on to the Human Trafficking Task Force for further investigation.
Two other prostitutes were arrested during the operation, a third woman was arrested for an outstanding warrant related to prostitution, and a pimp has been identified, with his arrest imminent. Additionally, the City may be seeking civil public nuisance fines of several thousand dollars from a local business that is believed to be facilitating the crimes. A number of other investigative leads were generated that will be explored in the coming weeks.
Lieutenant Eric Dickson said, “These operations were a huge success. Overall, the intelligence gathering aspect of this campaign may end up being most beneficial. The information gained will likely lead to more arrests in the near future, when the prostitutes and their pimps least expect it.”
This is the most recent of several operations targeting prostitution in the Hemet San-Jacinto Valley. Police Chief David Brown has vowed to keep the pressure up on the prostitutes and any businesses that allow them to continue to function.