2 Model Agency Heads Seized in Pandering Case
Los Angeles police Friday arrested two San Fernando Valley modeling agency operators who they said are the major suppliers of actors and actresses to the pornographic film industry in Los Angeles.
The arrests followed an undercover investigation, in which a police officer posed as a South American film maker seeking stars for a pornographic movie, authorities said.
Jim Southe, 42, owner of World Modeling Agency in Sherman Oaks, and Craig (Red) Sawitz, 40, owner of Pretty Girl International Inc. of Van Nuys, were arrested on suspicion of pandering, police said.
Two women and two men were also arrested on suspicion of prostitution Friday, after they allegedly contracted with the undercover officer to commit sex acts on film in exchange for money, according to Sgt. Don Smith, supervising investigator of the police administrative vice pornography unit.
One of the men arrested on suspicion of prostitution, John Johnson, was runner-up for the best supporting actor at the 1985 Erotic Film Festival, police said.
The suspects were taken to Van Nuys Jail. Sawitz and Southe were released on $2,000 bail, and the four others were released on their own recognizance, police said.
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