A group of men who allegedly believed they could pay for pleasure, instead wound up being arrested — all 37 of them.

Between June 29 and Aug. 4, the men were arrested and charged with solicitation to prostitution during nine different sting operations conducted in Beckley, according to Detective Lt. Jeff Shumate of the Beckley Police Department.

In the past, the city has received numerous complaints about prostitution, and adding to the problem is a high recidivism rate of those committing the crime, Shumate said. Therefore, police decided to focus efforts on those soliciting prostitutes.

“It’s basic economics,” he said. “You take off the demand, and you lower the supply. We hope to now deter people from participating in acts with these prostitutes.”

Two volunteers who had an interest in the criminal justice field were used as decoys, Shumate said. They were both women in their early 20s. The decoys met with personnel from the Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office who gave them guidelines on what they could and could not do. One thing they were instructed not to do was enter a person’s vehicle. The decoys’ safety was a top concern of the police.

The intersections of Woodlawn Avenue and Second Street and South Fayette Street and U.S. 19 were targeted as the sting locations, Shumate said.

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The final count actually was somewhat of a shock to police.

“The numbers of those arrested were more than what we expected when this investigation began,” Shumate said. “...We would have loved to not have gotten anyone this time.”

“We thought two to three was the most we would get — maybe not even that,” Bailey said.

The police may do a similar type of investigation in the future — and they hope for a smaller amount of arrests, Shumate said.

“We want to be proactive, and we hope this will be a huge deterrent in the future,” he said.

Another reason the police department actively works prostitution cases is because of public health issues and the possible spread of sexually transmitted diseases, he noted. Also, the crime is a nuisance for residents living in neighborhoods where prostitutes are solicited.

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The stings were a collaborative effort with the city’s Narcotics Enforcement Division, Shumate said. This was done because police have discovered, from past interviews of those arrested for prostitution, that those committing the crime are often doing it to support a drug addiction. The drug trade is heavily linked to property crimes as well. However, he emphasized that not everyone involved with prostitution is involved with drugs and only a small percentage of the men arrested in the sting were charged with drug crimes.

A few of those arrested offered drugs plus cash in exchange for sexual acts, he said. However, West Virginia code specifically states that one can only be charged with prostitution solicitation if money is offered. Other men who were not charged asked the women to come and get high with them, but they produced no narcotics. Therefore, they could not face drug charges at that time.

Police seized $1,000 worth of cocaine and $20 worth of marijuana during the sting.

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The operations were conducted at various times of the day: the afternoon, evening — sometimes as early as 9 a.m., Shumate said. At no time of day were there more arrests than others. The only factor that seemed to affect arrests was weather because less people were netted when the weather was rainy and/or cooler.

“We did see a huge drop,” he said. “Sometimes, we didn’t have any (during those times). There was a definite correlation in the weather. If it was a nice, sunny day, we had a high volume of people and a high number of arrests.”

Historically, prostitution complaints sharply increase in the summer, Shumate said.

Also, others being arrested did not apparently stop the men from attempting to solicit the decoys, according to both Shumate and Detective Sgt. Dean Bailey of the Narcotics Enforcement Division. While police would be arresting a suspect, someone else would often be either circling the area or parked nearby.

Some suspects may not have realized what was happening because officers working the stings were in plain clothes, but nonetheless, they would drive up to the decoy as quickly as two to three minutes after the previous arrest was complete, Bailey and Shumate indicated.

Other officers involved with the arrests also included Capt. Greg Tanner, chief of detectives; Detective Sgt. Gant Montgomery, supervisor of the Narcotics Enforcement Division; Detective Cpl. Chuck Smith of Narcotics Enforcement Division; Detective Cpl. Frank Priddy and Detective Cpl. Sam McClure, Shumate said. Management of the Red Carpet Inn also cooperated with the effort and were very helpful, he added.

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According to the Beckley Police Department, those arrested and charged for solicitation to prostitution are:

- Russell L. Holdren, 48, of Beckley

- Stephen W. Snuffer, 57, of Cool Ridge

- Larry S. Lacek, 58, of Daniels

- Louis Bedouin, 40, of Beckley

- Anthony D. Wilson, 30, of Beckley

- Joey S. Voiers, 37, of Mount Hope

- Randall K. Lester, 40, of Cool Ridge

- Rocky L. Baldwin, 26, of Beaver

- Charles W. Dunlap, 42, of Daniels

- Randy R. Smith, 26, of Oak Hill

- Andrew C. Klopp, 32, of Crab Orchard

- Gary R. Gill, 32, of Jumping Branch

- Noel L. Kidwell, 29, Glen Morgan

- Eugene S. Duncan, 34, of Coal City

- Jerry L. Richmond, 29, of Glen Daniel

- Eric D. Bennett, 26, of Cool Ridge (Bennett was also charged with indecent exposure)

- James G. Fleshman, 41, of Crab Orchard

- Rock A. Meador, 45, of Beckley

- David R. Bevins, 45, of Leslie

- Justin B. Graybeal, 50, of Shady Spring

- William S. Presley, 51, of Shady Spring

- Frankie D. Cox, 32, of White Oak

- Richard C. Jeffries, 43, of Beaver

- Gary D. Pomeroy, 31, of Meadow Bridge

- Jeffrey D. Watson, 42, of Ohio

- Michael S. Torrico, 33, of Beckley

- Charles F. Mills, 63, of Sophia

- Garland Sizemore Jr., 54, of Sophia

- Thomas W. Canterbury, 35, of Mount Hope (Police noted this man is not a local attorney with a similar name)

- Carl E. Lilly, 48, of Crab Orchard

- Edward W. Blake Jr., 41, of Raleigh

- Carl A. Stowers, 56, of Sophia

- Gabriel D. Wickline, 26, of Beaver

- Thomas E. Williams, 42, of Beaver

- Tony R. Crum, 46, of Daniels

- Micah A. Wimmer, 18, of Beaver

- David L. Hart, 48, of Ghent (Police noted this man is not a local attorney with a similar name)

Anthony L. Adkins, 35, of Hinton was arrested during a sting, but he was charged with driving on a revoked license due to DUI and obstructing a police officer, the release stated. Shumate said Adkins tried to interfere with a sting because a friend had been previously arrested and he attempted to deter others.

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