Despite the rise of social-networking sites, where meetings to exchange sex for cash can be arranged out of the public eye, old-fashioned sidewalk solicitation is still strong in Escondido. Craig Carter said. Most of street-level prostitution in the city takes place in an area downtown referred to as The Square, bordered by Mission Avenue to the north, Washington Avenue to the south, Quince Street to the west and Broadway to the east.
The average age of prostitutes has gotten lower during the past 10 to 15 years, posing a concern for law enforcement, Carter said. Though the number of transactions taking place tends to ebb and flow, over time it has remained constant in Escondido, Carter said. Oceanside police Lt. Joseph Young said patrol officers monitor prostitution each day in the downtown corridor.
He said officers are finding both female and male-to-female transsexual prostitutes on the street and are seeking customers via Web sites such as MySpace or Craigslist. It forces us to do a little more planning and strategizing. Vista law enforcement monitors Web sites for prostitution, though people selling and seeking sex for money can be cagey, Crysler said. Online ads offering sex for sale usually disappear within hours. It changes all the time.
Don Crist said prostitution is rare in his city. When it does occur, there are often other crimes involved, such as drugs, the trafficking of minors or gang activity, Crist said. There they discovered an year-old woman who had been listed as a runaway juvenile. A Florida man seen loitering near the motel in a car was arrested and charged with trafficking of a minor.
El Cajon police Lt. Steve Shakowski said many prostitutes and their pimps might work for a while in Escondido before traveling to El Cajon and other cities farther south, then starting the cycle again. None of the women arrested for alleged prostitution was from North County.
