LINGERIE PURVEYOR SHUTTERED; POLICE CLOSE SHOP IN SEX-FOR-HIRE STING.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer A Palmdale lingerie shop was shut down Thursday night after an undercover sting found the owner operating three unlicensed businesses and a possible prostitution prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. ring, sheriff's officials said. Deputies say customers of Fred's Secret Lingerie Factory Outlet in a Palmdale Boulevard shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into could arrange for a lingerie ``model'' to come to a motel room and personally display items for sale. ``(The) business has been shut down pending an investigation by the city of Palmdale's Code Enforcement Code Enforcement is the act of enforcing a set of s, principles, or laws (especially written ones) and insuring observance of a system of norms or customs. An authority usually enforces a civil code, a set of rules, or a body of laws and compel those subject to their authority to Office,'' said Deputy Paul Ullman. ``Investigation into the prostitution ring is ongoing.' Deputies said they had received information that the shop was operating a prostitution ring. A vice detective contacted the business and made arrangements for one of its employees to meet him at a Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling motel to model lingerie, deputies said. ``During the course of the modeling session, the suspect made offers for acts of prostitution,'' said Deputy Paul Ullman. ``She was subsequently arrested.'' Kimberly Knowles, 27, was cited for solicitation solicitation In criminal law, the act of asking, inducing, or directing someone to commit a crime. The person soliciting another becomes an accomplice to the crime. The term also refers to the act of obtaining bribes, as well as to the crime of a prostitute who offers sexual of prostitution and released. After Knowles was arrested, sheriff's officials went to the lingerie shop in the 2800 block of East Palmdale Boulevard and found three other businesses that lacked city licenses: the escort services Desert Dreams and Red Daddy Entertainment and an online credit card checking service, officials said. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the city of Palmdale's business licensing department, the lingerie shop is licensed to Lisa Mathews. The license was issued in January and expires in December. Mathews has no other licenses with the city of Palmdale. Contacted Friday outside the shop, Mathews said she had no comment. The closure came as no surprise to neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. business people. They said the store had a steady stream of people coming and going. They saw people working on telephones inside the shop, and women in short skirts entering through the back door. ``We had heard rumors,'' said a woman in a neighboring business. ``It just didn't seem right.'' Nicko Trataris, owner of an adjacent computer store, said that he had seen limousines parked in the parking lot. The owner had told Trataris that she was trying to sell her lingerie over the Internet. Signs in the windows advertised lingerie and part-time employment. Visible on the wall behind the counter was a large sign reading ``Ask me about home parties.'' A 43-year-old Littlerock woman who came to the store Friday to buy a birthday present for her fiance was surprised to learn of the turn of events. ``If I had known I never would have come to (patronize pa·tron·ize tr.v. pa·tron·ized, pa·tron·iz·ing, pa·tron·iz·es 1. To act as a patron to; support or sponsor. 2. To go to as a customer, especially on a regular basis. 3. ) their business,'' said the woman. ``I'm glad they shut this down. We've got enough problems as it is.'' |
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