“Three York County men arrested in regional prostitution sting” was the Aug. 19 headline on the front page of the Journal Tribune. The story underneath it provided details of an Internet sting operation set up by the Cumberland County Sherriff’s Department, which at least temporarily put the brakes on some illegal activities that had been taking place in such far-flung towns as Bridgton, Brunswick and Yarmouth.
The 11 arrests will undoubtedly help many people think twice before becoming involved in the sex trade as either a consumer or a provider. But an even more effective way to discourage individuals from becoming involved in prostitution was displayed with that story: The photos of all three alleged “Johns” from the local area.
Generally speaking, getting your picture in the newspaper and/or on TV is a good thing. Mine gets printed above this column every week, which is particularly nice since it’s a few years old and makes me look far more youthful and attractive than I actually am. The last time my photo was in a paper for something other a column I had written was in 1993, when three other high school basketball coaches and I, all sporting suits, ties and thin smiles, were shown displaying the sportsmanship trophies our respective teams had earned from the local referees’ board. Coincidentally, each of us had mentored a team that finished last in its league, which explained our subdued expressions.
My 10-year-old desperately wants to see his photograph published in some sort of widely-read periodical, but that’s understandable. At his age, such distinction is bestowed solely on people who’ve accomplished something positive. Little League Baseball championship teams get their photos in the paper. So do Scout troops that run charity bottle drives, middle school science fair winners, and members of youth symphony orchestras. Ten-year-olds can’t envision photos of themselves on post office walls, or TV footage of them and their friends doing the perp walk.
The people nabbed in the Cumberland County sting ranged in age from 26 to 69. The images of them that appeared in the newspapers were understandably less than flattering; they clearly weren’t taken at Glamour Shots. It also stands to reason individuals getting their pictures snapped by police photographers shortly after being arrested in a sting operation are generally feeling somewhat less than photogenic.
Some people view the world’s oldest profession as a victimless crime and wish to see it legalized. Decriminalization advocates see nothing wrong with a simple business transaction between two consenting adults, one of whom is providing a service the other wishes to purchase. Not only that, were selling one’s body a legitimate enterprise it could be taxed like any other business, and there’s no municipality, state, or nation which can’t use a little more revenue. But that line of thinking is hard to take seriously. Far too many prostitutes were initially coerced into the profession, are involved in it against their will, and are powerless to extricate themselves from their unhappy situation.
Under America’s legal system, everyone is entitled to his or her day in court, and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accordingly, publishing pictures of people arrested for alleged involvement in illegal and/or lascivious acts is a dicey business. On occasion, innocent individuals get their name and picture pasted all over their community on the day they’re charged with some sort of indecent behavior, yet when they’re exonerated because their accuser admits lying, the news rates nothing more than a two-line retraction somewhere inside the very same publications that played up their initial arrest with a headline story and photo.
And sadly, that’s at least as much society’s fault as it is the media’s, since it’s been proven time and again that scandalous, lurid headlines sell newspapers far better than finding out the local softball coach isn’t a child molester after all.
Having to think twice about doing something because you don’t want others finding out you’re involved with it is a pretty good indication the actions and/or activities being contemplated probably shouldn’t be undertaken. On balance, publishing photos of “Johns” who get “stung” is a good thing. Anyone objecting to being treated in such a way has the option of not breaking the law.
If and when your picture appears in the newspaper it’s far preferable it be for something that has you collecting a few extra copies to show your spouse, children, neighbors and co-workers. The far less appealing alternative is frantically trying to buy every copy you can get your hands on so others won’t see them, which is as logistically difficult as it is prohibitively expensive.
— Andy Young teaches in Kennebunk and lives in Cumberland.
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