Law enforcement?

[DMonDude]

14 hours ago, coriolis888 said:

They do?  What about this famous wrestler who got arrested for setting up a sex meeting with a male escort?

 

Yes, they do. Do some stings and arrests happen? Sure, but it still is not a top priority for police the way murders and assaults or robberies are. Finding one random recent case of a sting operation doesn't change anything said above. Every now and then some local precinct will have a quota to hit and they'll do something like that and they do what they gotta do. And then they go right back to mostly ignoring it.

[+ Alabastrine]

I'm paranoid so I always worry. I'm also not very lucky, so the paranoia pays off. 

[sjmuktop]

This is where I count my lucky stars that I am an Englishman. This side of the pond, paying someone money in exchange for sexual services is perfectly legal, and I am never doing anything against the law whenever I hire. Hiring is not something that causes me any anxiety like it is for those of you over in the States. 

Mind you, I've hired in the US before (NYC and San Francisco), and I think that even though hiring is illegal there (?), they are such liberal places that there is no reason to worry. I certainly didn't feel anxious at all, especially when I was in California.

[+ DrownedBoy]

On 12/10/2025 at 1:28 PM, DMonDude said:

Yes, they do. Do some stings and arrests happen? Sure, but it still is not a top priority for police the way murders and assaults or robberies are. Finding one random recent case of a sting operation doesn't change anything said above. Every now and then some local precinct will have a quota to hit and they'll do something like that and they do what they gotta do. And then they go right back to mostly ignoring it.

Without getting political, I'll point out that Kyle Snyder was stung in Ohio. Like Georgia, where police did a horribly biased Grindr prostitution sting recently), those are red states.

Seriously, in America more and more these days, different states are like different countries. Luckily, Cook County Illinois falls into the "England' category.

Edited Friday at 01:04 AM by DrownedBoy
name athlete

[BeamerBikes]

7 minutes ago, DrownedBoy said:

Luckily, Cook County Illinois falls into the "England' category.

Tho rumor has it - they would figure out a way to tax it if they think they could get away with it.   

I remember coming out of private party at a certain strip club New Year’s Day to get the parking meter ticket.  Pissed off from that I missed a No Turn on Red - got a red light camera ticket in the mail.   The city really follows the GoodFellas “F*ck you, pay me” model

[+ Jamie21]

On 12/10/2025 at 9:28 PM, sjmuktop said:

Mind you, I've hired in the US before (NYC and San Francisco),

Tell me you’re from England without telling me you’re from England: Starting a sentence with ‘mind you…’ 😂.

That’s so English. My dear old thing you are quite correct, it’s perfectly legal to sell or buy sex here, within certain parameters - for example it’s not legal to do so from the street or in a brothel but then neither of those are my cup of tea…I prefer to work independently in a more salubrious environment for discerning gentlemen of good character. 

[CuriousByNature]

4 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

not my cup of tea…I prefer to work independently in a more salubrious environment for discerning gentlemen of good character. 

Do these discerning gentlemen of good character call you on your white slimline telephone with last number redial facilities?

  

[+ poolboy48220]

5 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Tell me you’re from England without telling me you’re from England: Starting a sentence with ‘mind you…’ 😂.

The British-born guy who cuts my hair addresses people as "Love". I've picked up the habit 😁

[RayK]

My worry -- more of an assumption, I suppose -- is that an escort advertising on RM who has no reviews after more than a few months might be an undercover vice officer.  And there are a couple of hot guys in Vegas that I pass up because of that concern.  Too silly of me ???

[Whoisyourdaddy]

2 hours ago, RayK said:

My worry -- more of an assumption, I suppose -- is that an escort advertising on RM who has no reviews after more than a few months might be an undercover vice officer.  And there are a couple of hot guys in Vegas that I pass up because of that concern.  Too silly of me ???

I have my suspicions about one young Latino twink. I tried to reach out to him a few times, but he was too flaky and sketchy. He also won't show anything too revealing.

I asked one of my buddies about him before. He said the provider is into findom and is only looking for wealthy guys to take him out to dinner for $600. That explains everything.

[Nicedice]

My approach is to only go with providers who are well-discussed here or who have a well-established public social media presence. For providers with limited or conflicting reviews, I ask for a 5-minute video chat (which I always offer to pay for) to make sure that their pictures are accurate and that the vibe isn’t “off.”

So far, this has worked for me, although it is interesting that about 30% of providers suddenly aren’t interested when I ask about a video chat as a first step toward hiring them. 

[Nightowl]

I’ve never thought a provider was undercover by the time I booked him since I do a lot of research, some of it here on CoM.  I did have a masseur cancel on me, though, because he thought I was the cop.  Research is your friend.  If anything strikes you as off, don’t book him.

[caramelsub]

7 hours ago, Nightowl said:

I’ve never thought a provider was undercover by the time I booked him since I do a lot of research, some of it here on CoM.  I did have a masseur cancel on me, though, because he thought I was the cop.  Research is your friend.  If anything strikes you as off, don’t book him.

A provider who I wanted to hire thought I was a cop too, when I spoke over the phone with him, trying to setup a meeting. He declined to meet me. Another provider was very hesitant to meet with me because he thought I was a cop as well. I guess I give off cop vibes. 

[ReynST]

One of my regulars actually IS a cop, though he technically operates in a different city. 

It's not cops that providers are concerned with, but entrapment and some questions and approaches are definitely hinting at that. So have some discretion and decorum in communication.

[soloyo215]

Just my two cents: I think that in USA there are specific reasons for busts to happen, one being politics, as in election year when some a-hole politician's platform is around ending things that they deem immoral, but I have seen certain busts being used as a nuisance to force places to close after neighbors complaints or after some businesses or entities interested in gentrifying the area want the place to close or move. Also in instances when the FBI or the police are interested in one individual for one specific reason.

[DMonDude]

11 hours ago, ReynST said:

One of my regulars actually IS a cop, though he technically operates in a different city. 

It's not cops that providers are concerned with, but entrapment and some questions and approaches are definitely hinting at that. So have some discretion and decorum in communication.

4 hours ago, soloyo215 said:

Just my two cents: I think that in USA there are specific reasons for busts to happen, one being politics, as in election year when some a-hole politician's platform is around ending things that they deem immoral, but I have seen certain busts being used as a nuisance to force places to close after neighbors complaints or after some businesses or entities interested in gentrifying the area want the place to close or move. Also in instances when the FBI or the police are interested in one individual for one specific reason.

To add on to these comments. 

I definitely think there's a certain amount of mutually assured destruction behind why they don't truly crack down on this hobby/profession the way they could if they really wanted to in the U.S. In addition to the resource management, practicality, and crime priority level aspect of it. A not insignificant amount of cops, politicians, and high profile/high power people also are clients. Some of whom are fairly known in an "open secret" kind of way in some circles.

If they really tried to come down on this with indiscriminate full force, they wouldn't be able to protect the massive amount of themselves/each other who also engage in this and they'd be at high risk of exposing themselves and people having their secrets get out. And i think that is part of why they tend to mostly go after this in such a targeted manner mainly when it serves other purposes like the reasons Soloyo215 listed.

I think the powers that be would love to have the law be the same as how it is in the U.K., but because of how the U.S. has been culturally for so long it'll effectively be impossible to ever pass any true State or National level legalization for a long time.

[Occasional]

7 hours ago, DMonDude said:

If they really tried to come down on this with indiscriminate full force, they wouldn't be able to protect the massive amount of themselves/each other who also engage in this and they'd be at high risk of exposing themselves and people having their secrets get out.

Reminded me of a notorious vice bust many years ago here in London. Prostitution per se is not illegal in England, for a single provider working in private. Beyond that, there's a forest of legal no-nos: soliciting in public, pimping, running a brothel, and the quaint 'living on immoral earnings' which, I recall, once saw a respectable businessman convicted (and upheld on appeal) because his tenant was - unknown to him - working as a prostitute from the flat he'd rented to her, so that the rent he received from her was 'immoral'. But I digress.

From https://www.thejusticegap.com/a-very-bad-case-of-brothel-keeping/

" In her home [in suburban London] [Cynthia Payne] held sex parties ... a flat fee included food, drink, a film, a live show and the sexual services of one woman. The fame of Cynthia’s parties spread and women who sought to sell sexual services were attracted to her establishment, some of those present at the premises [when the police raided] on 4th December 1978 were there simply to earn extra cash for Christmas. But this very British carry-on came to an end after an anonymous letter was sent to police.

The simple offence of keeping a brothel would have only allowed a magistrate to sentence her at most to six months in prison and so [the police] relied on an offence which existed at common law ... the offence of keeping a disorderly house. The definition of that offence dated back to 1751, but the offence itself dated back to the time of [King] Henry 3rd [reigned 1216-1272] , when parliament became concerned that a group of women had set up a brothel just south of Fleet Street [in London] and close to a Friary.

When Cynthia Payne appeared at the ... Inner London Crown Court, in April 1979 she faced 21 charges and was represented by [a] prominent human rights barrister ... She pleaded guilty to only three charges of controlling prostitution and one of keeping a disorderly house.

The facts put before the court, which were undisputed, were that those present on the day of her arrest were all consenting adults who chose to be there. It was accepted by the prosecution that Cynthia [Payne] had not recruited the women. There was no question of coercion or corruption by her. The clients knew perfectly well what they were doing, none of the neighbours complained and the women were not obliged to have sex and could say no. It was a safe establishment for them to trade in with no dangers. The police superintendent in charge of the case gave evidence to the court that Cynthia’s clients were principally middle aged and elderly business men, managing directors [=CEOs] accountants, barristers, solicitors [=attorneys, lawyers], a member of parliament [lawmaker] for Ireland, a member of the House of Lords and not to forget several vicars [=priests]. "

-----

Payne was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment (reduced to six months on appeal) and none of the men were charged - there was nothing to charge them with. Word at the time was that the very highest-profile customers were discreetly shown out of the back door by the police when they raided and never appeared on the list of customer names.  That list was never made public, although it was produced to the judges in the case. Conspicuous by its absence in the categories of customer above is ... ... judges. Enough said. 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Occasional
typo