By: Joe Strupp An advertising salesman with the alternative Nashville (Tenn.) Scene was arrested Thursday, accused of knowingly placing prostitution ads in the weekly newspaper, according to The Tennessean.
Nels Noseworthy is accused of selling the ads to undercover police who indicated they were promoting prostitutes, police told the Tennessean.
The escort-service ads included suggestive phrases such as "XXX," "Sex In The City Escorts," and "$200/hr."
Noseworthy, 29, was indicted by a Davidson County grand jury on six felony counts of promoting prostitution. He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
The arrest was the latest move in a local law enforcement push against prostitution but the first time Nashville police had arrested a newspaper employee on suspicion of helping to connect prostitutes and their customers, the Tennessean reported.
Outgoing Scene publisher Albie Del Favero attacked the police department in a statement on the newspaper's Web site, which said, "This is nothing but a publicity stunt for a police chief who is trying to make a name for himself."
The Web site statement also hinted that the arrest could be a form of retribution, noting that the Scene had published an entry in its annual, sarcastic "Boner Awards" about Chief Ronal Serpas' son Dustin, who has been arrested twice in recent months on DUI charges.
The Tennessean added that police had been investigating the Scene for several months, reporting that Thursday's arrest was part of a wider investigation of the publication, begun in May 2003, eight months before Serpas came to Nashville. That investigation had linked 30 Scene ads to prostitution businesses and led to 25 prostitution arrests so far, Aaron said.
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