Reverse prostitution sting at Alliance motel lands four men in jail

ALLIANCE, Ohio - A reverse prostitution sting at an Alliance motel landed four men in jail.

Alliance police said the arrests were a direct result of an enforcement operation conducted on Nov. 30 which netted three arrests -- and revealed the prostitution problem in the area to the department.

In addition to the area "regulars," it appeared people were coming from Pennsylvania to do business with area prostitutes who were placing ads on Backpage.com. Alliance police placed its own ad on the site and, while the ad didn't specifically state it was for prostitution, it was similar to ads being placed by others.

The ad for "Tina" was first submitted on Feb. 8. Just six minutes later, Alliance police said the phone began ringing with interested men. The department continued receiving a steady influx of calls and texts over the next two days. Several of the callers were already known to police, as their information had been recovered from the phones seized in the Nov. 30 sting.

On Friday afternoon, a female undercover cop began receiving male visitors in the Alliance motel room. Upon the men paying her and requesting a sex act, police stormed into the room and made the arrest.

The motel used in the sting is not known for prostitution activity, rather volunteered to help with the bust.

Mathew Norris, 30, of Minerva, Michael Meyer, 57, and Aaron Winkhart, 33, both of Canton, along with David Schott, 40, of Atwater, were all charged with soliciting prostitution.

"Many of those responding to the ad had very specific days and limited times that they wished to meet with "Tina," a spokesperson with the department said in a news release. "We believe that the number of arrests would have been much higher had we been able to accommodate the overwhelming number of responses there were to the ad."

All four men were released on a personal recognizance bond. They're all set to appear before a judge in Alliance Municipal Court on Feb. 15.

"While we do not believe that Alliance has a larger problem than other communities. We do feel that what we saw was the "tip of the iceberg" as far as the extent of the problem in Stark and surrounding counties when it comes to the use of internet ads for prostitution," a news release stated.

Authorities said additional stings will be done as needed, targeting both the prostitutes and their customers.