DA hopeful joins Bell in war against outcall industry

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

The district attorney's office is declaring an election year war on the lucrative outcall service industry, which one top prosecutor calls a front for prostitution.

District Attorney Stewart Bell, who is running for district judge, and Assistant District Attorney Mike Davidson, who is seeking Bell's job, scheduled a news conference this morning to call for a moratorium on granting new licenses to outcall entertainment services.

Davidson, the point man in the campaign against the industry, said Wednesday that his ultimate goal is to get new laws passed to ban the 136 licensed outcall businesses in Southern Nevada.

"I have reached the conclusion that regulation of these businesses just doesn't work," Davidson said Wednesday. "These outcall entertainment services are nothing more than fronts for prostitution. They are in effect outcall prostitution services."

But Vince Bartello, president of Hillsboro Enterprises, the area's largest outcall service operator, denied his industry is fronting for the illegal sex trade.

The male and female dancers associated with his services all are subcontractors and responsible for their own business, he said.

Bartello accused Davidson of mounting a political witch hunt against the industry, something he said seems to happen every couple of years.

"It's big news to target adult businesses," he said. "Rumor has it that Stewart Bell is supporting Mike Davidson, and I just believe this is a way to get his (Davidson's) name out there. He's trying to to raise campaign money on the back of the industry."

Bell denied political motives were behind the new push against the industry.

"It's a constant battle, and it will remain a constant battle because it's very difficult to walk the fine line of enforcement without infringing on First Amendment rights," he said.

"If it works, it works. If it doesn't work, then we'll come up with another approach. We'll just keep fighting the good fight."

Davidson acknowledged that going after the high-profile outcall services will generate publicity for his campaign, but he insisted he would be doing the same thing if he wasn't running for district attorney.

"It's getting out of hand," he said. "I'm going to make life as hard for them as I possibly can."

Davidson said the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases here has more than doubled since 1998, and he blames the rise directly on the outcall industry.

Crime related to outcall transactions on the Strip, such as theft, also has skyrocketed, he said.

And in almost every hotel room sting conducted by Metro Police, Davidson said, outcall dancers have offered to have sex with undercover officers.

Some outcall services also are coming close to advertising for prostitution on billboards around the valley, he said.

"They know that if they put up a sign that says, 'hookers to your room,' they can't do that," he said. "But they're getting as close to the line as possible."

A press advisory announcing this morning's news conference said the district attorney's office planned to launch a "multi-front" assault on the industry with the help of Metro Police and other government agencies.

Deputy Chief Bill Young, who is running for sheriff, said the police department expected to continue its aggressive enforcement of prostitution within the industry, but doesn't plan any additional crackdown on outcall services.

"I'm all for changing the laws tightening up that industry," Young said. "We're out there arresting prostitutes left and right."

But Young, who headed Metro's vice unit from 1989 to 1995, said similar efforts to rewrite the laws have been shot down in the past.

Allen Lichtenstein, a lawyer for the Nevada affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the current effort also is destined to fail.

"The federal courts have ruled that outcall dancing is protected by First Amendment activity," Lichtenstein said. "They have a right to operate.

"You can't ban a legal industry because some people are breaking the law. That's like saying because some politicians are taking bribes, we'll get rid of government. It's that absurd."

County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, a Democratic candidate for Congress, said he supports the move to abolish outcall services. He planned to attend today's news conference.

"I think it's a great idea," he said. "It's obvious that these adult entertainment services are just fronts for prostitution, and I don't think there's any place for that in our community.

"If we can find a way to deal with the constitutional questions and eliminate those types of businesses, I would be whole heartily in favor of it."