CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Benton County Sheriff’s Office conducted a two-day prostitution operation on December 29, 2021, which led to the arrest of eight men at a Corvallis hotel, after soliciting a fictitious woman online to pay for sex.
Once the men initially agreed to pay a fee to engage in sexual conduct or contact, the Oregon crime of Commercial Sexual Solicitation (ORS 167.008¹) was committed, and the men were arrested for a Class A Misdemeanor.
In February of 2018 and April of 2019, Benton County Sheriff’s Office Detectives ran similar operations, in which they placed an advertisement on a social media site that led to the arrest of 17 men.
Detectives created a new advertisement this week. Over 100 persons responded to the ad to pay for sex with an early to mid-20-year-old woman. Of those, seven ultimately arrived at a local hotel and were taken into custody without incident.
With limited beds available at the Benton County Jail, the eight men were booked and released with citations.
• Matthew Robert Veazie (36), of Corvallis
• John Namkyu Back (31), of Eugene
• Michael Leroy Moore (53), of Springfield
• Tim Jeffrey Koertje (55), of Albany
• Jacob Ashley Carley (44), of Eugene
• Matthew David Simmons (42), of Albany
• Daryl Leonard Staley (53), of Eugene
• Allen Michael Grudi (32), of Corvallis
Detectives also seized a total of 8.57 grams of methamphetamine from four of the men.
This operation demonstrates again, how prevalent prostitution is in Benton County and Oregon. Prostitution is a dangerous criminal enterprise, closely related to human trafficking, narcotics, violence, and sexual assault.
Prostitution also fuels the growth of modern-day slavery by providing a façade behind which traffickers for sexual exploitation operate. If you or someone you love is a victim of human trafficking, get help now at 1-888-373-7888 or go online to https://humantraffickinghotline.org/.
(information directly from Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon)
