BUSTED: Selling sex on Craigslist

By: Melanie Brooks

Wesley Chapel - Some people will sell just about anything on the internet, clothes, furniture, even themselves.

The popular website, Craig's List, has an erotic section where several Wesley Chapel women advertised their “services,” according to a spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Sources say the women were prostitutes, using the world wide web to make money in the world's oldest profession.

“I can't believe this woman lives right door to me. She goes in and out all the time, but we never thought anything, “said Glenn Bowling, who lives across the street from 35-year-old Angel Stebelton, who was arrested in the sting.

We knocked on Stebelton's door, but she wasn't home. Same story with 48-year-old Jolyn Steier. She wasn't at her Wesley Chapel apartment, but her neighbors were. They were more than willing to talk about the accusations.

“You just never know about the people living next door to you. It's this kind of thing that makes me want to move out of here. I don't want to live near people like this.” The woman declined to give her name.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office began getting complaint calls from residents surfing Craig's List. They saw graphic ads featuring local women and offers for sex.

The Vice and Narcotics unit began investigating and discovered that two women involved in advertising their “activities” were from Wesley Chapel, one from Tampa, and one from Vero Beach.

Thursday night, the ladies showed up at the Comfort Inn on U.S. Highway 19 in Port Richey to do business, thinking they would meet up with their internet customers. Instead, the men waiting for them were cops.

The women were charged with prostitution, drug possession and posing as massage therapists without a license.

Hotel management did not know the bust was going on and does not condone this type of activity at their establishment, according to a sheriff's spokesperson. Also, the hotel was not a part of the undercover operation.

The prostitution arrest is considered a misdemeanor, while posing a massage therapist is considered a felony.

Pasco County, Florida — Pasco Sheriff's Office deputies conducted an investigation into prostitution within the county Thursday night.

Authorities say they targeted individuals who posted their services using www.craigslist.org and local escort services that have websites and advertisements on the Internet.

Here's how investigators say they ran the operation: