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Orlando Weekly Fights Escort-Ad Charges

POSTED: Monday, October 22, 2007
UPDATED: 2:34 pm EDT October 24, 2007

The Orlando Weekly is vowing to fight accusations that several managers aided prostitution in connection with a Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation probe into adult escort ads in the publication.

Last week, three Orlando Weekly advertising managers were arrested at a job fair and charged with aiding prostitution.

Orlando Weekly's director of classified advertising Jarrell B. Martin, 43; line account executive Katherine Casey Miller, 27; and display account executive Christopher M. Whiting, 37, were taken into custody while representing the newspaper.

They were charged with facilitating prostitution and benefiting from its proceeds.

The trio sold ads to undercover officers posing as representatives of prostitution, who explicitly said they wanted to promote their prostitution business, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation said.

Monday, Orlando Weekly publisher Rick Schreiber refused to answer questions concerning the allegations but read a statement saying he would not bow to pressure.

"These charges are outrageous, and we are confident they will be removed in due course," Orlando Weekly Publisher Rick Schreiber said. "This newspaper will not consent to censorship under the pain of prosecution by the MBI."

Agents with the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation said a two-year undercover sting has netted evidence that the Orlando Weekly supports prostitution through its ads.

Officer said the paper was blatantly breaking the law but Schreiber feels there is a different motive behind the investigation, Local 6 reported.

"We suspect that the MBI has targeted our company because we are the only newspaper in the area that has been critical of the MBI in a series of investigative articles over the past several years," Schreiber said.

The MBI dubbed their investigation "Operation Weekly Shame."

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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