A reverse prostitution operation led to the arrest of nine men in Howard County.
Howard County Police conducted an operation Monday night resulting in the arrest of eight men for solicitation of prostitution and related charges, and one man for human trafficking offenses after attempting to recruit an undercover female officer at a hotel in the 9800 block of Washington Boulevard in Laurel.
Detectives created a fake ad on the website Backpage. The men who were arrested had called the number on the ad and spoke with the undercover officer.
The men provided a location to meet and when they arrived and offered money for sex, they were arrested.
Eight men were charged with solicitation of prostitution and disorderly conduct.
The men charged were:
• Harry Bernard Commarata Jr., 60, of Owings Mills
• David Cookson, 36, of Baltimore
• Peter Han, 43, of Herndon, VA
• Emanuel Nicholas Karas, 46, of Arnold
• Luis Alfredo Rodriguez, 33, of Hyattsville
• Mark David Stoessel, 62, of Severn
• Juvenile male, 15, of Adelphi
Matthew Ezekial Bogle, 32, of College Park, attempted to convince the undercover officer to travel to Virginia with him to work as a prostitute. Bogle was charged with human trafficking and prostitution.
