The Times-Standard reports three local men were arrested Wednesday for alleged solicitation of prostitution in Old Town.
Usually cops target the prostitutes while the johns scurry back to their wives.
At least one of the men shares his first and last name with a pillar of the Eureka community.
Awkward!
As long as we’re persecuting victimless crimes, let’s all support arresting pot smokers as well as pot dealers.
Oh, darn. persecuting / prosecuting.
“pillar of the community”?
Only one from Eureka
Can anyone confirm that this is Rick Littlefield, the owner of Eureka Natural Foods?
The Eureka police have done this multiple times in the past = arrested the Johns. It is also a practice in many major cities.
This is not new. Your statement of “targeting prostitutes” is not the norm in Eureka or many other towns. It is your perception that is stuck in the past, not the reality of modern policing.
I would imagine it’s got to be a different Littlefield. If I’m correct about that, I would also imagine the owner of ENF would be getting out in front of this with a very public statement to that effect early today. I know I would if I were in his shoes. Given the shitty rumor mill in this town his silence will end up looking pretty incriminating.
The Rick Littlefield’s full name is Richard W Littlefield. He is a great guy, I can’t imagine why he would go to Eureka’s ladies.
Who’s kidnapped Heraldo?
Isn’t the second time the Rick has been busted in public? Wasn’t he working for the county the last time?
Why? It’s got to be super easy to arrest a prostitute hawking her wares on city streets. But if cops did, then all of the prostitutes would move to Craigslist, and after more arrests, where would they go? Use their time being processed through the system as an opportunity for intervention to show them they have alternatives to their current line of work.
It almost sounds like targeting johns is a convenient PR arrangement. It keeps prostitutes on the streets and when the cops need some good newspaper coverage, oh just go down and arrest a few johns. It’s like selective timber harvesting. Don’t clearcut. Just nab a few trees whenever you need them.
Whatever. I give Littlefield props. At least he wasn’t drunk driving this time, right? Y’all gotta look at the bright side.
And 9:23, $50 strawberries don’t advertise on craigslist. That mess costs $5 per post and $10 for the first post. I give craigslist props for that too… requiring a credit card really separates out the thoroughbreds from the nags.
The comments are gone from the T-S story. There were 25 or more last night.
Why is consensual sex for money a crime?
Here are the original T-S comments:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/arcata-ca/T0VC7SN153VV96DMD
Damn sorry about the bad news heraldo, i guess you will have to go elsewhere to find your snuggle bears for the night.
If it flys, floats or F$%&* , rent it.
Solicitation is not charged as a serious crime unless it is with priors. Loitering is sometimes charged with solicitation (dude waiting around in car) and is difficult to take very far without a furtherance beyond simple oral agreement such as the solicitor taking the undercover cop somewhere, going to get money, giving them money up front, etc.
The fact that the names of these people are published shows that this whole operation was done for shame. I doubt these people will get anything more than probation and fine. Being shamed by the newspaper (and the Humboldt Herald) is much worse than the punishment for the crime itself.
If they publish the name of the ho’s then it’s only fair that they do ths same for the jon’s.
But you are so right about the publicity being worse than the fine or whatevery slap on the hand they get.
It sucks t be them, for more than one reason.
If you want to talk with a prostitute to try and encourage her to leave her life of sin, you’ve got to pay her for her time. Otherwise, she won’t spend any time with you and she will never hear the Message.
These men might very well been motivated by love of God and sympathy for these unfortunate women.
Judge not.
Yeah, I bet God made them do it. I’ve been a really naughty boy God.
Eric Peterson is a Eureka real estate broker.
Different guy.
I thought only rags and tabloids put salacious news front and center.
Unless H. knows specifically that the accused are the publically known individuals speculated about here, I’d say this posting confirms some of Hank Simms disparaging comments about the merits of blogs.
Can we expect next to find embedded cheesecake and beefcake photos here, or has CPR sewed that genre up already?
It was Rick Littlefield of Eureka Natural Foods. It was not Eric Peterson of Ming Tree Realty.
Anonymous Says:
August 28, 2009 at 11:28 am
[Q:] Why is consensual sex for money a crime?
A: Religion.
And Capitalism.
“Can we expect next to find embedded cheesecake and beefcake photos here, or has CPR sewed that genre up already?”
Huh?
CPR sez Who, moi?
To put the record straight, the arrested person as reported is Eric C. Peterson, age 58 of Phillipsville.
I am Eric G. Peterson (Realtor) am 44 yrs old. Please do not spread inaccurate information.
Anon. 11:28 am says it is a victimless crime.
I feel sure the wives of these arrested men would disagree.
I have to think it is a rare monogamous relationship that has one partner agreeing to the idea of the other partner seeking sex from a street corner scumbag thereby welcoming disease AND dis-function back to their bedrooms.
Whatever Rick Littlefield it was, my heart goes out to his wife if he has one. If it is the same (co)owner of ENF I hope his wife had a meeting with a good divorce attorney this morning and I now have another reason to shop at the Co-op.
Jesus, I’m glad that Not-a-Native didn’t link to this one.
Whenever I see good looking hookers in Eureka, I know a bust is going down. I saw one the night this went down. An empty logging truck made some abrupt turns off of 5th street. He seemed to be circling back around to take a better look.
Poor bastard.
Prostitution should be legal and regulated.
Yes, Tom, you are right. A good-looking, healthy-looking hooker in Eureka can only be one thing: a policewoman in hooker disguise.
You know you are picking low hanging fruit when you do a ho sting at the library.
This isn’t so much about morality as it is about common sense.
Prostitution is degrading, for all concerned.
I’m curious to know, does everyone here support that claim?
I don’t think any less of these people, the johns or the prostitutes. I don’t care what they do with their sexual lives. It’s none of my business.
Is everyone here really wagging their finger at the johns? Seriously?
Addendum: The only shameful thing from my perspective is that a really personal matter for the johns was made public by the police, the newspaper and this blog.
moviedad, it’s not something to brag about but the parties involved usually get the outcome they were looking for. It is the oldest profession in the world.
Those that have made contracts that would preclude them from participating in prostitution, shouldn’t take part.
I could think of worse things than spending the night at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada.
I however am not entered into a contract of monogamous love.
If one doesn’t have a wife, husband or children, and all parties agree, I don’t see the reason for law enforcement to enter into the equation.
It’s the silly factor that I can’t stand. I don’t care when you drive down past the library there is most always one or two working the street. If it was that important to go after them last week what about this week? Either it is a community problem or it isn’t. Selective law enforcement is worse than no law enforcement. What the police did is single out there three guys for public shame….to what end? Does anybody think it made even the slightest dent in Eureka Prostitution? The only shame here is on the police. I feel sorry for those guys, forever in search engines for a meaningless bust. The community isn’t a bit safer for it and it is business as usual down at the library. I would rather see them up at the corner of A and Del Norte any night doing away with the hand to hand meth sales….but there is too much money in that.
Prostitution should be legal and regulated. Eureka used to have bordellos, legal bordellos cut down on street walking and improve the health and safety of the sex workers, the customers and the community.
The police were no doubt responding to complaints and I can understand why people dont want hookers plying their trade in front of the library but we should make it possible by legalizing and regulating the sex trade to move the hookers to a safer and more appropriate private location.
have a peaceful dxy,
Bill
“The Happy Hooker” is a myth. There is nothing but shame in it. Imagine it…..Ok? What part of it is not born of desperation? Some friends of mine were joking about hiring one of the woman for a friend who was in a “Board n’ Care” facility. Yuk, yuk, I thought. Very funny…but one guy, was saying that he actually knew one who would..I was totally grossed out. I thought we were joking. The very idea that you could “rent” a person’s honor, and degrade them while the meter was running, is very repugnant. Does any of you have daughters? One of the facts that came out of a study years ago, was that most prostitutes were victims of sexual abuse. Which makes total sense in a psychological way.
I have a daughter and I would not want her to be a sex worker but if she did I would still love her and wish her to be in a safer environment than out on the street.
Selling alcohol is much more unsavory than peddling sex to willing partners, yet the sale of alcohol is legal.
It is true that some people are forced into prostitution because of their addictions, but it is also true that some sex workers consider their chosen occupations to be both ancient and honorable.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
I would bet, even go as far as GARUNTEEEE, that all of these local street walkers/hookers are addicted to heroin, maybe a very few are addicted to methamphetamine.
Look at this from a different point of view. Mexican drug lords (if you will), or drug trafficking organizations, are making money off the misery of these pathetic girls and women. And from what I read or know these same Mexican natiional drug rings that supply heroin and methamphetamine also participate in the big marijuana grows on public and private land.
There is a high percentage of street prostitutes addicted to heroin, but there are also significant numbers of prostitutes who are addicted to alcohol or gambling.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
Not so Bill (Highboldtage), a rarity at most (alcohol and gambling).
What do you base your statement on?
personal experience?
Bill is correct about prostitutes addicted to other things besides heroin. Some women who fall under this description don’t really act like your streetwalker prostitute but will sleep with random men for drugs/cash.
What hypocrisy! Can nobody here admit that maybe the prostitutes are popular because they are good at what they do? A good one can provide a very exciting sexual experience. Men seem to like exciting sex, that’s why prostitution is called the oldest profession. Some men live in sexless marriages, others have no partner at all. For either one a good whore is a lifesaver. And yes, some men like variety. Better learn to live with these facts of life, because they haven’t changed in thousands of years. It is absolutely idiotic to insist that every man who hires a prostitute is only trying to “degrade” women. Men hire whores to have sex. Period.
We need to legalize this profession, because it isn’t going away.
Should note that successful prostitutes are generally only addicted to money.
Since prostitution is illegal, where do you moralists suggest desperately lonely disabled old men go for a few minutes of human skin-to-skin contact?
Do you really think the Eureka streetwalkers are good at what they do? If you mean hustling, sure. These aren’t exactly high-class courtesans though. I doubt they are going to be that exciting. Maybe in the way a new-to-you used Buick LeSabre is exciting for a minute, but not like driving a Jag.
I shouldn’t diss girls on the track, sorry girls.
On Old Glory’s comment about A and Del Norte… huh? That’s not a good location. You should go further east or south to make your hand-to-hand deals or whatever. Oh, right, you want to see a stop to that. Do you know what happens when cops put a stop to that? The market moves to some other street corner.
Put a few nice clean legal bordellos in Old Town along with some legal pot Shoppes and the tourist will come.
Might even have real chance at a few cruise ships if you are the little Amsterdam of the West Coast.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
Wow Bill, that’s so insightful
Very few people like their jobs. So what?
Good idea, highboldtage. “The Amsterdam of the West Coast”…I like that!
As for those snide comments about the “streetwarlkers” of Old Town, don’t knock them if you haven’t tried a single one. Those who have know there’s a surprising variety and a few real gems.
Care to share some contact info for those gems, John? Inquiring Eurekans want to know!
Jeez!
Those gals that have been working down by the library look PRETTY rough! I can’t imagine how strung-out they are on drugs to look that bad and be that desperate. An old timer once told me recently that there has always been hookers down in Old Town. The only difference was that back then, the girls looked a whole lot nicer than they do now.
Yes, some are “rough” but there are at least two exceptional whores in Old Town. As for “contacts,” you’re on your own. I’m sure you can figure it out.
How about that pathetic bastard that took his guns and shot up that gym back in Philadelphia, killing three innocent women who were complete strangers to him. He hadn’t gotten laid in ten years, that seems to be his main complaint.
Now imagine a place where prostitution is at least legal and socially a little more acceptable. Maybe, just maybe this bastard could have found some comfort with a professional and some women might still be alive. Let’s think about this. Sex with a prostitute or death by armed nut job. Which is worse for society?
have a peaceful day,
Bill
The problem with the Philadelphia murderer is deeper than the issue of prostitution. Violence against women is an epidemic in the United States and around the world, and does not hinge on whether men like the health club killer get laid (for free or otherwise).
Consider that the number one cause of death among pregnant women is murder.
I’m with Heraldo. And you don’t need to go to such lengths to “justify” legalizing prostitution. Finally,demonizing whores is pathetic and false.
Some people think that prostitution itself is a form of violence against women, and in some instances yes it is not only violent but oppressive.
My point is that if prostitution is legal then we can make the occupation safer for all.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
As far as the Phlladephia killer he obviously had extreme problems of the mental kind.
I refer you to his own statements regarding his own reasons for his sick acts. He himself stated the reasons for his suicidal rampage was the lack of sexual contact. So we do have to ask if he had had contact would that maybe not have changed his internal dialogue a bit, even if the contact was with a professional? Sure, getting laid would not have cured his deeper problems, but a few innocent women might be alive.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
The Philly killer hated women. A pity fuck would not have changed that.
Well it is true that when someone is sick enough to shoot multiple random people that he may be beyond help of any kind. I grant you that.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
I agree — but they weren’t random people. He specifically targeted women.
The Philadephia gunman hated women. Of course he did, he said so. What I am saying is that his motives are no mystery, he made them public.
My point has not to do with one mercy fuck, it has to do with what if he had lived the last ten or fifteen years in a place where he had legal access to a professional sex worker in a safe environment? He could have had a hundred mercy fucks in that time, and he would have had less money to invest in firepower.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
It is all so sordid, don’t you think? The story and the comments I mean. How about some issues that we can sink our teeth into, not our #*%+.
Mike Thompson is holding a town hall meeting, Redwood Acres, Sept. 2nd at 5 p.m.
And I hope people go the the town hall meeting and let Mr. Thompson know they disapprove of this nightmare of Obamacare.
Personally, Thompson is the only Democrat I’ve ever voted for. Boy what a mistake, or at least a wasted vote.
Why is sex work “sordid?” It’s just sex without love. So what.
Prostitution may not be the greatest career choice, but it’s really not that much worse than a lot of things people do to make money.
I do like the Amsterdam in CA model. We could do that here in Eureka and it would bring a lot of much needed money into our community.
Prostitution is much more honorable than the screwing our board of supervisors gave us with general plan alternative A. Those four should be the ones hanging their heads in shame.
The General Plan is updated? And the Supes adopted Alt. A? What a scoop! You should start a blog.
The old timer who said the girls looked better on 2 Street in the old days, is he sure he wasn’t just drunker back then?
Actually, a couple of the girls look better every day, unless you’re too drunk to look. Or too frightened.
Maude In The Middle: I’d rather give my money to Eureka Natural Foods/Rick Littlefield who only consensually screws prostitutes, rather that the Coop/Rob Arkley who screws the entire community without consent!
NCJ confirms it was Rick Littlefied:
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/issues/2009/09/03/stung/
So what.
Diving on a DUI suspended license. Jerk. And hypocrite.
The suspended license was worth a ticket, not an arrest and public humiliation. And for what? He attempted to pick up a police woman, a victimless “crime.” If that isn’t entrapment…
Good luck with your hypocritical name calling. He runs a great store. I plan to keep shopping there and will send in others.
So if we don’t have wives or even gfs… can we please not get busted?
And on the note of infidelity, did we all forget that it’s perfectly legal? That we as a society decided to at least in that little bit have the gov’t butt out of our bedrooms?
The Times-Standard
Posted: 07/10/2011 02:30:13 AM PDT
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office recently announced that it has charged the following people with driving under the influence of alcohol or drug.
Richard William Littlefield, 59, Eureka
Bingo?
3X in recent years.
Bingo is my name-o.