Posted on Fri, May 27, 2011 : 5:10 p.m.
Ypsilanti area prostitutes warned: Attacker claims to be police officer
By AnnArbor.com Staff
Two prostitutes have been attacked in recent weeks in the Ypsilanti area by an assailant claiming to be a police officer, the Detroit Free Press is reporting.
The attacks are prompting police to issue a warning to prostitutes in the community, according to the paper.
One man is believed to be responsible for the rape of one woman and attempted rape of a second victim, police told the Free Press.
Comments
Chase Ingersoll
Thu, Jun 2, 2011 : 2:02 a.m.
DBH: I can't find the question you posted at 6:25 pm. Yes, space is an issue on my comments. The photo on this and all my comments is the same on of me and my kids a few years ago. The smaller corner photo of a child is me when I was 3/4 years old. Specific events always lead to discussions regarding larger issues, and that is my experience with the hypotheticals I posed. For me the larger issue with rape involves asking why in order to ultimately undermine the argument for moral relativism in support of individual rights. But then if individual rights are sacrosanct, wherein can we justify the imposition of another individuals morality upon another person, by force? And, isn't there a parallel between those who would by force, force their sex upon another human being who did not want it, and those who would by force, force their moral values upon another person who had refused those values? Isn't that what we are doing on the issue of prostitution - forcing our moral values on two consenting adults? I find it interesting that in the Bible, "adultery" was noted in the 10 commandments, but prostitution was not, and Rahab the prostitute is listed as being in the Messianic lineage. I think it is a pretty common technique to take a graphic or vulgar circumstance involving sex, that will get a lot of people's attention and then ask them questions that might surprise them. On a lighter note, the kid in the photo, who is now eight years old, pops something out of his pajamas last week, takes it over to his Mother and very curiously asks her "I think something is in there?" After being sent to me and being provided some detailed "plumbing diagrams" detailing the Corpora Cavernosa, he says to me, "I think my penis is my favorite body part." "Now why is that?" "Because it pees." Who can argue with that?!
katie
Mon, May 30, 2011 : 2:56 a.m.
I hope that they find this guy and lock him up. One reason that men like this target prostitutes is that they think they are more likely to get away with it. Prostitutes are human beings and deserve to be protected from rape. If you want to end prostitution, make public the names of their clients and put their clients in jail. That's the way to end it. Jailing the women does little or nothing to change the situation.
UlyssesSwrong
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 6:46 p.m.
I really hope these women can protect themselves, their trade is so unruly and dangerous that safety is a necessary concern, and they should be prepared with the proper means.
Chase Ingersoll
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 1:58 a.m.
DB: You ask some good questions and as I stated in my 2nd remark, those hypotheticals always led to some interesting discussions. I think your point juxtaposing my un-empathetic rhetoric and vs. past history of empathy is a good one and deserves a response. The former prostitutes, drug users and drinkers with who I found commonality over the last 20 years were ones that like myself, would be the first ones to attend to the physical care of the women who were raped. But as soon as they were physically stabilized we would also know that we bear an obligation not to treat these women like victims. I/We do the same thing with my male counterparts who found themselves physically brutalized, ripped off or mistreated - we ask them, "Are you going to take ownership of the choices you made that resulted in your being in a situation where this was more likely to happen than if you had made better choices?" Time and time again, if the person did not "take ownership" of their actions and instead chose to cling to those people who were predominately "sympathetic" and not willing to confront the addict (sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling) it was highly likely that they were simply going to repeat the behavior that made it likely that the same thing would happen again. I think that all of our girls at the Recovery House, even those who had not actually been on the street, had been raped by knife, gunpoint or while they too drunk or high to resist. Many had been assaulted as children, before they developed addictions. The empathy that they felt for themselves, and even each other, was not for what had happened to them while they were on the street, but rather for what happened when they were only children and when something happened where they were not willingly engaged in a behavior that increased the likelihood of their being assaulted. Got me wondering how some of them are doing.....the ones that stayed out of prison or the morgue are proba
DBH
Mon, May 30, 2011 : 1:35 p.m.
Mr. Ingersoll, you appear to have misunderstood the juxtaposed factors that caused me discomfort. Please see my response on 5/28/11 (6:25 PM) for clarification. It appears you ran out of space in responding to my question as to why you were posing the questions you were posing, given your extensive legal background. Did you want to answer that issue? If not, thanks for your time.
Trouble
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 10:15 p.m.
Some People have Too Much Time!
Sallyxyz
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 8:08 p.m.
Isn't prostitution illegal? If so, then why aren't the police issuing warnings to the prostitutes that they will be arrested for solicitation of sex for money, IN ADDITION to issuing a warning to prostitutes in the community about the attacks. Somehow this article doesn't address the illegal activity that's going on to begin with. The article should state that law breakers are being warned about other criminal activity, in addition to their own. By the way, while the police are warning these prostitutes, maybe they should also arrest some of them. Otherwise, how do they know they are prostitutes if they haven't been previously arrested for this illegal activity?
Chase Ingersoll
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 5:29 p.m.
DBH: My hypotheticals are discussed in law school. On one hand the discussion can be creepy, on the other hand it can lead to a very interesting discussion that undermines the arguments for moral relativism. What some my find interesting is my biography related to prostitution: 1. I have three female and one male relative that I know of, who engaged in prostitution, at least one of them while still a minor; 2. JD University of Illinois '94, January '95 I file the first anybody had ever seemed to have heard of, nuisance suit against a man who had pleaded guilty to solicitation of a sex act in my clients neighborhood. The first case settled and I proceeded that case with other actions against others who had committed the same nuisance in our neighborhood, including prominent businessmen, public employees/officials and yes.....members of the Illinois Bar; 3. 1999 Disbarred by the State of Illinois. See Item #2 for relevant context; 4. 2004 Funded a Recovery House for women, at least half of whom had convictions for solicitation. I think my manager at the house had 2 or 3 convictions on that charge. Would have made some interesting reality television.
DBH
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 10:25 p.m.
Interesting, Mr. Ingersoll. Your work involving the Recovery House sounds useful and needed. I trust it has been helpful. Given your legal background, your posing the questions seems now even more unexpected. Were you posing the questions in an interrogatory fashion (as I had assumed), or were you posing them in a rhetorical fashion? Given your background, it seems to me you either would have known the answers already or would have been able to research them easily enough. At least part of the creepiness of the questions, for me, is that this story is about the sexual assault of two women, and yet your questions involved hypothetical questions of legality. There seemed to be no empathy for the victims, only some apparent intellectual curiosity regarding how a couple of scenarios involving prostitutes would be treated by the justice system. I still have a faint sense of unease about your posting. As noted in my original comment, I am sure it has to do with your posing your questions with a picture of 3 children juxtaposed to the questions. That probably accounts for a good part of the creep factor for me.
sig.melvin
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 4:23 p.m.
AN other taxes free JOB! Time to make this business legal now that the business taxes is down!
snoopdog
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 12:50 p.m.
It is ridiculous that prostitution is not legal. It is dangerous to the woman who practice it and taxes are not paid on it. Legalize it, have it licensed and require quarterly medical checkups. Prostitution will never go away, it should be made legal. Good Day
ypsiypsi
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 11:34 a.m.
<a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28057125/detail.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28057125/detail.html</a> How come double shootings in Ann Arbor never seem to hit annarbor.com but if it were 6 miles to the east...
Bones
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 9:28 a.m.
It is a shame that I had to read this article in the free press. But, with that said. I would like to know why there is not a composite sketch of the person. Why there is not a make and color of the vehicle used. It seems that this guy is going to keep on doing this. So the faster he is identified. The faster he can be taken off of the streets. Crimes like this will escalate in to involve others in time. If it has not already.
buildergirl
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 3:12 a.m.
Debate the reasons for prostitution and argue the legalities all you want, at the end of the day a sex crime was committed. Granted, prostituiton is illegal, but the second woman was walking (ok, working) the street when she was forced at behind a building and then held at gun point. What if she had been a scantly clad bar hopper? Would you be so willing to dismiss her?
moodyone
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 7:02 a.m.
@A2RN, totally agreed--I was responding to the "Would you be so willing to dismiss her [if she were scantily clad]?" part, as a lot of people would dismiss this hypothetical victim.
A2RN
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 6:45 p.m.
@moodyone: Just because that phrase is often used to discredit rape victims, doesn't mean it should be. No matter what someone is wearing, sexual assault is never excusable. Is it okay to be tackled on the sidewalk because wearing a football jersey? No. It's also not okay to be sexually mistreated because I am wearing a short skirt.
moodyone
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 3:32 a.m.
Agreed, except that "she was dressed provocatively" is often used to discredit rape victims who aren't sex offenders. The only relevance the victims' occupation should have is to alert the public that sex workers are being targeted so that those most likely to be victimized can be on their guard.
John A2
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:44 a.m.
Also, I believe there has been more rapes from this guy too.
DBH
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:57 a.m.
Why is that?
John A2
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:19 a.m.
Continued: It gets a lot deeper than I have time for here, but this is some basics of what is going on inside these fragile brains, and it's all done to protect the child from great and lasting fears, which cause Stress Hormone Toxic Exposure (SHTE), and in turn with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) lasts a life time. If we can get them into treatment and support groups there is a chance of recovery from this debilitating disorder. substance abuse is a must to self medicate PTSD, if you don't learn and change your lifestyle. Thats why I believe every drug addict has some sort of PTSD, whether or not it's caused by abuse. Yes, it could be caused by separating from your child constantly. Like baby sitters and the like. A child should not be separated from their parent (mother) while going through the critical period, which can last till around 8 years of age. I believe this is why so many kids are ADHD, and disorders of this nature. You can have a great or even perfect family, and still get childhood PTSD. That's why I don't believe the genetics theory, but cultural and environmental exposure. Child abuse is 99% cultural behavior. It's what I would call the human condition.
Chase Ingersoll
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 7:29 p.m.
John A2: from my personal experience and observation of others, I believe in the significant relevance of PTSD and SHTE, that can occur from small events that take place throughout life. I was removed from my mother at the age of 12 months and raised with the other children in the commune until my parents left the commune when I was 3 or 4 years old. I consider myself very fortunate because the kids that stayed in the commune past that age were beaten and sexually molested. I on the other hand, only had to suffer a decade worth of beatings. Fortunately, my mistreatment was balanced by a number of other good influences, but none of the adults and good influences that were around ever picked up on the fact that I was at the age of nine, contemplating suicide as a means to escape the beatings and other mis-treatment. In retrospect that was actually a very sane and rational contemplation considering the circumstances, but to your point, where did all of that leave my brain chemistry??? I still give genetics some credit, and blame, but bottom line, it makes human beings nothing but "simply complicated" and while it is easy to look at someone and a given behavior and note the appropriateness, or liabilities of the conduct, far more edifying is knowing the events that took place in the persons life, being able to factor that in analysis and perhaps play a part in directing them to a path where one balance, more of their choices will be for the better.
DBH
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 12:57 a.m.
He used the word "perfect," not "prefect."
Sallyxyz
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
What's the "prefect" family that you refer to? Just curious.
YpsiLivin
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:56 p.m.
New research on ADHD strongly suggests that the condition is genetically based, and is actually a neurodevelopmental disorder. It is likely the result of deleted and repeated DNA segments and is therefore a product of "nature" not "nurture." You do a lot of families a major disservice when you casually imply that ADHD is the result of "bad" parenting, and could be avoided if only mothers "cared" for their children "properly." <a href="http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/06/new-evidence-of-genetic-basis-for-adhd/19157.html" rel='nofollow'>http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/06/new-evidence-of-genetic-basis-for-adhd/19157.html</a>
moodyone
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 2:10 a.m.
So you're blaming prostitution on drug addiction, drug addiction on PTSD, and PTSD on mothers who don't (or can't, or were mysteriously not imbued by their female sex organs with the unrelenting desire to) spend every minute of the first eight years of their child's life with them? Seriously? I must be missing the gene (or cultural and environmental exposure) that allows me to understand why someone would read a story about a man going around raping sex workers and leap straight to an indictment of working mothers.
John A2
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:18 a.m.
I am not going to judge anyone. Some people just don't have any motivation to stop doing it. Prostitution is a great money maker, but the depression, guilt and shame that comes along with it can keep them out there, because of low to no self esteem. Addiction is the main culprit here. The make pain for themselves and have to numb the pain. I believe all addicts have some sort of PTSD from childhood. I have interviewed over six hundred women with addiction, and every single one had been sexually abused some how. They feel they caused this abuse, they blame themselves, and keep punishing themselves for it. The parent is a brick wall, and perfect to a child's mind. If a tragic indecent happens with their parents or their responsible adults and family, or their guardians and the child thinks their perfect so it must be them that caused it somehow. Then starts the self blame game and sometimes can lead to Disassociation Disorder, or split personality. This occurs usually when the child has no one else to protect them, so they pretend they are someone else who will protect, or keep hurting themselves in the name and personality of the perpetrator that the victim produced.
Gorc
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 12:26 a.m.
Don't get me wrong I believe a crime was commited and it is very frightening to have a gun pointed at you. If he had a hundred dollar bill in his hand instead of a gun, do you think she would have performed oral sex anyways? When she got in the car her probable intention was to perform a sex act, anyways. I know - "no means no"
moodyone
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 2:02 a.m.
Whatever could be your point? Getting sexually assaulted isn't "performing a sex act" and a gun isn't a hundred dollar bill.
Chase Ingersoll
Fri, May 27, 2011 : 9:49 p.m.
Hypothetically: If a woman solicits a man, he agrees to the terms, she performs, he then fails to pay, has he committed rape, because the woman would have otherwise refused to perform? What if the man never had any intention of paying - has he actually engaged in an act of exchanging sex for money - since he never intended to pay? But having never intended to pay, has the man committed an act of "rape by fraud"?
Mike D.
Sun, May 29, 2011 : 1:33 p.m.
Rape is rape. Nobody agrees to be held at gunpoint. For the record, I think "creepy" would be far nicer than anything I might call you.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 11:10 a.m.
DBH, I didn't see Chase's questions creepy I found them curious and pertinent to the story.
moodyone
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 1:59 a.m.
No, it does not become rape if the man refuses to pay--though a fraud may have been committed, it is fraud in the inducement (not grounds for rape charges under any US laws I know of) rather than fraud in the factum. (Fraud in the factum applies when, for instance, the victim was deceived into believing he/she was having sex with his/her spouse rather than the perpetrator or that a doctor was inserting a medical instrument when actually he was inserting other things. Fraud in the factum can be grounds for rape charges under some but not all state rape laws.) If prostitution is illegal where this transaction occurs, the contract would be void as against public policy (contracts to do illegal things aren't enforceable); if prostitution is legal, he has simply defrauded her out of the legitimate charge for her service and would be liable for the amount he agreed to pay, just as someone who runs out on a restaurant tab.
DBH
Sat, May 28, 2011 : 12:43 a.m.
While these questions might seem pretty normal in the context of a class in law school, on this site they seem kind of creepy, particularly coming from someone with the picture you have used to represent yourself. I expect you are simply curious as to how such hypothetical situations would be treated by law enforcement and the courts, but they come across to me as rather borderline.
E09
Fri, May 27, 2011 : 11:56 p.m.
He would be shoplifting
FaithInYpsi
Fri, May 27, 2011 : 9:42 p.m.
What I am wondering is why the Free Press is running this story and why AnnArbor.com has not run it??? This seems to be happening more and more and think I need to cancel my paper and get the Free Press.