Final prostitution trial ends in guilty plea

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2002-05-03

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Final prostitution trial ends in guilty plea By DANI DODGE Mail Tribune The last of the seven people caught in a September police prostitution sting in Medford was convicted Tuesday. Monique Nicole Bradley, 36, of Medford, pleaded guilty to one count of prostitution. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Crain sentenced Bradley to 18 months probation and 64 hours of community service. "I was in a down point of my life and made some mistakes," Bradley told Crain. "But I changed my life and have got a good job now and have won awards for my top sales performance." Bradley was one of six women and one man arrested in a Medford police prostitution sting on Sept. 5. Following complaints about prostitutes stealing wallets and jewelry from clients, police arranged for a decoy to call the six escort services with advertisements in the Mail Tribune classifieds that day. (The Mail Tribune no longer accepts ads for escort services.) All six sent a woman to a motel room on Riverside Avenue where police had rigged a hidden camera they watched from another room. The women were paid money by the decoy and were arrested after they began a sex act. The man arrested in the sting was the owner of an escort service who drove his girlfriend to the motel room where she performed a sex act. All seven pleaded guilty to one count of prostitution and were sentenced to probation. Six of them also had community service hours tacked onto their sentences. Medford Police Sgt. Roy Skinner said this won't be the last time Medford police target prostitution. "The reason we do those stings is because at some point it becomes a problem and we get complaints," Skinner said. "Depending on the problems, we might wait three months, a year, or three years." In court Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Rachel Bridges said Bradley's actions prompted the police sting. "She was one of the reasons that Medford police conducted the sting - because of multiple complaints about Miss Bradley stealing from customers," Bridges said. Bridges said though, the theft victims were not willing to testify and "it's hard to feel sorry for them when they get ripped off." But Bradley, who was the owner and operator of Moonlighting Escorts, denied any thefts. "There was a big mix-up because there had been some complaints, but I don't think they were actually with me," Bradley said. Outside of court, Bradley said she was at a low point in her life when she went into the escort business. She had suffered a back injury and could no longer work as a bartender. She couldn't find a job and needed to support her two teenage daughters. "I obviously made some bad choices," Bradley said. "I was already down and you can't kick me any further down than I was." She said her biggest regret in the whole incident was embarrassing her daughters. But she said she's gotten her life on the right track. She now has a full time job in sales and hopes to make a career in the field. "I'm not bitter," she said. "I just try to have a positive attitude on the whole thing and I know it will pass." Skinner said he's pleased that all the women caught in the prostitution sting pleaded guilty to the crimes. He noted that going to trial costs the city and court system much more money than a simple plea bargain. "As a manager of ... the city's resources, we try to present such a tight prosecutorial case, that it will end up in a plea agreement," Skinner said. "That's why we videotaped - we saved the taxpayers a lot of money by videotaping." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected]     Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.