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Sioux Falls Police have arrested more than a half dozen men in the department’s second prostitution sting in more than two months.
It happened Wednesday at a Sioux Falls hotel. Undercover detectives posed in online ads as escorts, and when the men who responded to the ads offered to exchange money for sex, they were arrested.
Police arrested these seven men.
- Robert Albert Corsini Jr., 52, Sioux Falls
- Larry Merle Marshall, 64, Sioux Falls
- Joshua James Barber, 38, Brookings, SD
- Jeffrey Douglas Wolff, 53, Beardsley, MN
- Miguel Angel Santiago-Montes, 26, Sioux Falls
- Joseph Lewis Panaia Jr., 45, Sioux Falls
- Jesse Lynn Raley, 23, Sioux Falls
All of the men are facing misdemeanor charges for hiring for sexual activity.
"We're trying to at least send the message out there that prostitution is not going to be tolerated in Sioux Falls," Sam Clemens with the Sioux Falls Police Department said.
Police have now arrested a total of 15 men in both stings combined. During this most recent sting, it only took about six hours to arrest seven men.
One of the men arrested in Wednesday's sting is 52-year-old Robert Corsini Jr., who was also arrested two weeks ago on the same prostitution-related charge. He was one of 18 men arrested at the end of October following a state investigation into sex trafficking.
Joseph Panaia Jr. was also arrested in the Wednesday sting. He's a sex offender who tried to open a youth center in Tea in 2009.
Panaia, who had pleaded guilty to indecent exposure, has since petitioned to get his name off the sex offender registry.
Police say they will continue to carry out these stings in an effort to cut crime in the city.
"We know that in some instances, women are forced into prostitution. There's a whole host of different crimes that are associated with this and trying to limit that amount, hopefully, we can stop some of the other crimes that occur with it," Clemens said.
Police say 25-year-old Jesse Raley is also being charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit after they found a handgun in his pocket. And 26-year-old Miguel Santiago-Montes is still in jail on an immigration hold.
All of the other men have bonded out of jail.
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