7 Arrested Over Computerized Prostitution

The oldest profession has taken on a high-tech twist, Los Angeles police said Friday after arresting seven people accused of operating a computerized prostitution ring based in a Studio City apartment.

The prostitution ring had a computerized client list with 7,000 names and took in about $750,000 a year, Detective Bill Spradley said. The prostitutes accepted credit cards and the ring, which was advertised in phone directories as Coca Cabanna West Escort Service, used a Hollywood computer database service to launder the credit card transactions.

“As far as the level of sophistication, nothing I have seen has come close to this,” said Spradley, who has worked in the vice detail for 12 years. “It’s the world’s oldest occupation . . . it’s gotten high-tech.”

Tom Papke, 58, was arrested Thursday by police who raided his Hollywood home, Detective William Roberts said. Detectives seized a computer network that allowed him to keep records at his home but which could be accessed by other terminals at several locations.

In a Friday raid at a Studio City apartment, Christine Simmons, 50, the alleged madam of the ring, and five suspected prostitutes were arrested, Spradley said. The call girls, whose names were not released, were dispatched from an apartment on Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

“We’ve determined that the operation had 22 very active prostitutes,” Spradley said. “Many would not go out unless they received $500 per call. The client had the option of paying for the service by cash or credit.”

The calls would come in to the apartment and Simmons or a dispatcher would then call the prostitutes and send them to the clients, said Officer Richard Munguia. Each customer was logged into the computer and when a customer used the service again the record was automatically called up on the dispatcher’s computer screen.

“They would cross-reference every customer’s name on the computer. For example, they would mention that he is a drug user, whether he was violent, etc.,” Munguia said. “You could see whether he paid cash or credit, which girl he was with, how long he was with her and what sexual act was performed.”