Prostitution sting nets 10 arrests, including Camas man

A Camas man and nine others were arrested during a two-day prostitution sting by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon.

Brian Bartolero, 34, of Camas was arrested on suspicion of commercial sexual solicitation, booked into the Benton County Jail and released with a citation due to limited space at the jail, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Detectives placed two separate online advertisements through what was described as social media and advertising platforms at the start of the year. About 200 men and women responded. Among the respondents were sex offenders and felons with active warrants.

A new advertisement was posted this week — 70 people responded, and 10 men followed through by showing up at a Corvallis, Ore., hotel. All were arrested.

Once the men initially agreed to pay to engage in sexual conduct or contact, they committed the crime of commercial sexual solicitation, a misdemeanor, according to the sheriff’s office.

The other suspects live in the Oregon communities Corvallis, Albany, Junction City and Lincoln City.

“Prostitution is a dangerous criminal enterprise, closely related to narcotics, violence, sexual assault, commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, and in some cases human trafficking,” the sheriff’s office said.