Waterbury police conducted their second reverse prostitution sting in a month in the Hillside neighborhood.

Friday night into Saturday morning, two female officers posed as prostitutes in Hillside which has the reputation as the spot to pick up prostitutes.

The sting nabbed 39 men, including 11 from out of town, one teenager and two New York residents. All of the men were charged with soliciting a prostitute from a motor vehicle. And all of their cars were towed and impounded.

Last month, 27 men and one woman were arrested in a similar undercover sting.

Police spokesman Lt. Christopher Corbett said there will be more stings.

"We will continue to strictly enforce prostitution laws in Waterbury, not just going after the prostitutes themselves, but the men who solicit them," Corbett said Saturday.

Prostitution has been a long-standing problem in Hillside where residents say motorists, some driving expensive cars, circle their neighborhood constantly looking to buy sex.

Residents said the presence of prostitutes and johns circling the neighborhood to buy sex, brings down property values.

Last week, it was the topic of a meeting with neighborhood representatives at Waterbury Superior Court. At the meeting, officials from a nonprofit agency on the shoreline said prostitutes often were victims of sexual abuse as children.

Shepardson Wild, who owns two historic homes in Hillside, said homeowners also are victims and more stings were needed to change mind sets.

"Blight was the No. 1 problem in Waterbury," Wild said at the meeting. "Now, it is prostitution."

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BY ROBYN ADAMS REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com