Document text
Prostitution cases make their way through the court system By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune A Washington man was fined $200 Wednesday after pleading guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to attempted prostitution. Attorney David Orf appeared in front of Judge Pat Crain on behalf of his client, Michael Jantz, of Arlington, who was absent with the court's permission. Medford police charged Jantz with prostitution after a January incident at a local motel. According to police reports, Jantz, a long-haul trucker, was passing through the Rogue Valley and called a Medford escort service for a date. Police said Medford resident Tina McFall, 18, arrived at the motel a short time later. From that point, Orf told Crain that reports differ. "The only thing that is clear is that an escort service was called," Orf said. According to police reports, Jantz became upset when McFall allegedly refused to have sex for money and called the Medford Police Department to complain. Police initially charged McFall with prostitution but the charge was later dropped. Monica Martin, McFall's public defender, said her client's reputation has suffered because of the false allegations. "She is not a prostitute. She has never been a prostitute," Martin said. "She refused to have sex with him for money." Jantz was originally charged with a misdemeanor but the charge was later reduced to a violation. In an unrelated case next week, two members of an alleged prostitution ring will appear in court for a preliminary trial. April Irene Blank, 24, of White City, is scheduled to appear in court Monday along with Troy Allen Worsham, 28, also of White City. Worsham operates Five Star Escorts and has been charged by Medford police with promoting prostitution. Blank is an employee of Five Star Escorts and was charged with one count of prostitution. Medford police arrested Blank and Worsham during a sting operation in September along with five other women who worked at local escort services. Other suspects in the ring include Monique Bradley, 36, of Medford, owner of Moonlighting Escorts; Tammy Renee Bonton, 35, of Medford, owner of Christine's (an escort service); and Patricia Anne Lafranchi, 21, of Ashland, owner of Paradise Escorts. All three women were charged with one count of prostitution each. Lafranchi already faces charges of prostitution stemming from an arrest earlier this year. Another escort proprietor - Kimberly Lorraine Vandermolen, 40, of Grants Pass and owner of the escort service Scarletts - was charged with two counts of prostitution. Cambria Lauren Hart, 19, of Medford, works at Fantasy Escorts and was charged with one count of prostitution. Bonton, Vandermolen and Hart face trial in January while a trial date of February has been set for Bradley. In addition to the seven arrested in the sting operation and Jantz, Medford police have investigated three reports of prostitution this year. Three cases were reported in 2000 and only one case ended in arrest. In 1999, there were four reports within the city. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.