Nationwide prostitution sting yields local arrests
A number of suburban police departments along with sheriff's departments from Cook, DuPage and Lake counties assisted the FBI in a nationwide anti-prostitution sting that took place Feb. 19 to 22 and resulted in the recovery of 48 children and the arrest of 571 adults across the country.
Arlington Heights, Bensenville, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Elk Grove Village, Grayslake, Libertyville, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Mundelein, Naperville, Oak Brook, Rosemont and Westmont were among the local police departments participating in Operation Cross Country III, the latest in a series of investigations that began in June 2003 as part of the FBI's Innocence Lost Initiative targeting the sex trafficking of children in the United States.
A joint operation between the FBI, the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Innocence Lost has led to the recovery of 577 children nationwide and the conviction of 365 people since October 2008.
Chicago-area arrests involved adults only.
"No minors were found to be working in prostitution activities in the Chicago phase of the investigation," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice.
Working on information obtained from the Web site Craigslist, Naperville police charged three women with prostitution and one man with solicitation, said Cmdr. Dave Hoffman. Feng M. Davis, 47, of New York City was arrested at an apartment in the 700 block of Royal St. George Drive, Naperville. Pamela Greco, 39, of Bolingbrook and Diane L. Prince, 26, of Berwyn were arrested at separate apartments in the 1100 block of Iroquois Avenue, Naperville, along with a 32-year-old man, whose identification was incomplete.
Craigslist also factored in the arrest by Gurnee police of four suspects, including 18-year-old Ashley R. Petersen, of the 12000 block of Echo Drive in Rockton, Ill., and Desmond J. Williams, of the 1000 block of Knoll Lane in Hoffman Estates, said Cmdr. Jay Patrick. Both were arrested Feb. 20 at the Gurnee Grand Hotel. Police charged Petersen with prostitution and Williams with misdemeanor pandering and felony pimping.
In a separate incident at the Holiday Inn on Feb. 20, Gurnee police arrested Jessica A. Ward, 24, of the 400 block of Park Drive in Bethalto, Ill., and Patrice M. Wilson, 19, of the 7000 block of S. Merrill St., Chicago. Ward was charged with prostitution and obstructing a peace officer. Wilson was charged with obstructing a peace officer. Both are free on bond.
Information on other suburban arrests was not available as of press time.
• Daily Herald writers Jake Griffin and Bob Susnjara contributed to this report