By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
March 16, 2011

“I don’t think there’s any question that prostitution has been a problem in Northeast for quite a while,” said lifelong Northeast resident and District 40 State Rep. John Rizzo. “In the past we have just tried to arrest and rearrest the prostitutes that have been in our neighborhoods. Obviously, it just hasn’t worked.”

Some prostitutes, he said, have been arrested 40 times.

To curb prostitution, Rizzo has introduced House Bill 660, which was heard at the Urban Affairs Committee Monday, March 14, at Jefferson City.

“I’m hoping we can get it passed by the end of this month or the beginning of next month,” Rizzo said of the bill.

If approved, HB 660 would create a registry of those caught soliciting a prostitute. First-time offenders’ names would be placed on the registry for 90 days; second-time offenders, one year; and three offenses or more would earn an offender three years on the list.

In addition, cities would be allowed to notify a repeat offender’s neighbors of his or her crimes and publish his or her name in the local newspaper.

“This, in my personal opinion, will go after the demand (for prostitutes),” Rizzo said. “If we can get rid of the demand, hopefully we can get rid of the supply.”