Eckert Is Arrested in Prostitution Case

Former San Diego County Supervisor Paul Eckert was arrested Friday on suspicion of soliciting prostitution, a San Diego police spokesman said Sunday.

Eckert, whose political reputation was damaged in 1983 when he revealed that he spent a night bar-hopping with two women, one of whom was later implicated in a prostitution ring, was arrested after allegedly soliciting a plainclothes female police officer near El Cajon Boulevard and Dawson Street, according to police spokesman Bill Robinson.

Was One of 33 Arrested

One of 33 men arrested over the weekend on prostitution-related charges, Eckert, 53, was issued a misdemeanor citation and released at the scene, but he will have to appear in court Jan. 28 to face charges that carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine, Robinson said.

Late Sunday, Eckert told the Associated Press that he had been advised by his attorneys not to comment on the charges.

“I ask that (the public) withhold judgment until everything would be made clear,” Eckert said. “If you’re interested in whether or not I’m guilty of soliciting prostitutes, I’m not guilty.”

In June, 1985, Eckert was defeated in his bid for a third four-year term on the county Board of Supervisors when, in a stunning upset, he finished third in the primary in his North County district behind lawyer Clyde Romney and eventual victor John MacDonald.

Though Eckert’s strong pro-growth policies and overconfidence were the main factors blamed for his defeat, the 1983 bar-hopping incident clearly harmed his image and also may have played a role in turning voters against him.

According to County Grand Jury records, Eckert was spotted by a San Diego police detective kissing and hugging a woman in an Old Town restaurant’s parking lot in August, 1983, while another woman, Christine Cole, stood by. The same evening, Eckert was observed bar-hopping and then taking the two women to the County Administration Center.

About a month later, Cole and two San Diego police officers were indicted on charges of pandering, pimping and obstruction of justice stemming from her alleged operation of a company called Fantasy Outcalls that authorities described as a front for prostitution.

The woman Eckert was seen kissing was a friend of Cole, but she was not implicated in the case nor in any other prostitution-related investigation, police said at the time.