Deborah L. Turbiville | |
---|---|
Born | August 19, 1975 |
Nationality | Belizean |
Citizenship | United States [1] |
Occupation | Madam |
Deborah L. Turbiville (born August 19, 1975; [2] dubbed the Memorial Madam [1] [3] by the news media) operated the Vivian's Friends brothel and escort agency in Houston, Texas under the pseudonym Vivian. On March 10, 2009, after an investigation that began in October 2007, Deborah was arrested and charged with aggravated promotion of prostitution [4] and money laundering. [2] Turbiville is a native of Belize and was raised in England. [1] She has a master's degree in psychology. [1]
For four [1] to seven [5] years, Turbiville operated what may have been the largest prostitution ring in Houston. Turbiville had dozens of employees, including 30 prostitutes, [2] and 700 [2] to 1500 [4] male and female [6] clients. According to Houston attorney Terry Yates, "If there's a trial or some contested issue those names are likely to become public." [6] According to Harris County Assistant District Attorney Donna Hawkins, the clients may be questioned and charged. [7] Her operation catered to "high rollers" and "big players" and screened prospective clients [4] with P411, a prostitution screening service to detect law enforcement. [2] Her clientele included doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, [4] and television personalities. [5] Clients paid up to $350 [8] per hour, $250 of which prostitutes kept. [6]
The ring operated out of the 9900 Memorial Apartments, a 706 unit luxury apartment complex, [9] and out of Uptown District–area hotels. [4] Turbiville operated under the cover of Turbiville LLC, a supposed international investment company, [10] Logic Moving Solutions LLC, Wazala.com LLC, and Alquima Properties. [2]
Houston Police Department Sergeant Mark Kilty labeled her "the Heidi Fleiss of Houston" and said that "[s]he probably had the biggest escort service in Houston." [4] According to a prostitute who formerly worked for her, Turbiville operated "the largest prostitution escort service operating in the city of Houston." [5]
HPD arrested Turbiville on March 10, 2009. [4] They seized two safes containing "a substantial amount" of cash, gold, and silver, a Lexus sedan, a Chevrolet SUV, a pistol, and several computers. [4] HPD is currently performing computer forensics on them in order to build a list of clients. [4] Police seized business records, condoms, and lubricants from the apartment. [5]
Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Prostitution is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties, although only six allow it in every municipality. Six counties have at least one active brothel, which mainly operate in isolated, rural areas. The state's most populated counties, Clark and Washoe, are among those that do not permit prostitution. It is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city.
An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's residence (incall). Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay with the client or travel along on a holiday or business trip. While the escort agency is paid a fee for this booking and dispatch service, the customer must negotiate any additional fees or arrangements directly with the escort for any other services that are not provided by the agency involved, such as providing sexual services.
Prostitution in Germany is legal, as are other aspects of the sex industry, including brothels, advertisement, and job offers through HR companies. Full-service sex work is widespread and regulated by the German government, which levies taxes on it. In 2016, the government adopted a new law, the Prostitutes Protection Act, in an effort to improve the legal situation of sex workers, while also now enacting a legal requirement for registration of prostitution activity and banning prostitution which involves no use of condoms. The social stigmatization of sex work persists and many workers continue to lead a double life. Human rights organizations consider the resulting common exploitation of women from East Germany to be the main problem associated with the profession.
The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary municipal law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest municipal police department, serving the fourth-largest city in the United States. Its headquarters are at 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston.
Prostitution in Russia is illegal. The punishment for engagement in prostitution is a fine from 1500 up to 2000 rubles. Moreover, organizing prostitution is punishable by a prison term. Prostitution remains a very serious social issue in Russia.
Prostitution in Taiwan was made illegal under a 1991 law. Legislation was introduced in 2011 to allow local governments in Taiwan to set up "special zones" where prostitution is permitted. Outside these zones prostitution is illegal. As of 2017 no "special zones" had been opened.
In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.
The legality of prostitution in Asia varies by country. There is often a significant difference in Asia between prostitution laws and the practice of prostitution. In 2011, the Asian Commission on AIDS estimated there were 10 million sex workers in Asia and 75 million male customers.
Prostitution is illegal in the vast majority of the United States as a result of state laws rather than federal laws. It is, however, legal in some rural counties within the state of Nevada. Additionally, it is decriminalized in the state of Maine. Prostitution nevertheless occurs elsewhere in the country.
Prostitution in Ireland is legal. However, since March 2017, it has been an offence to buy sex. Third party involvement is also illegal. Since the law that criminalises clients came into being, with the purpose of reducing the demand for prostitution, the number of prosecutions for the purchase of sex increased from 10 to 92 between 2018 and 2020. In a report from UCD's Sexual Exploitation Research Programme the development is called ”a promising start in interrupting the demand for prostitution.”
Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.
Prostitution in Paraguay is legal for persons over the age of 18, but related activities such as brothel keeping are prohibited. Prostitution is common in the country. Brothels are also common, even some rural villages have a small bar/brothel on the outskirts.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring diseases. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes.
Prostitution in Poland is legal, but operating brothels or other forms of pimping or coercive prostitution and prostitution of minors are prohibited.
Prostitution in Luxembourg is in itself legal, and is common, but activities associated with organised prostitution, such as profiting from or aiding prostitution, are illegal. Human trafficking incurs severe penalties. There are estimated to be 300 prostitutes in Luxembourg, most of whom are immigrants.
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The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country.
Chad Holley was an Elsik High School sophomore at the time of his arrest in 2010 as an alleged burglary suspect. During the arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the Houston Police Department (HPD). He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to probation until he turned 18.
Prostitution in the Dutch Caribbean is legal and regulated. At least 500 foreign women are reportedly working in prostitution throughout the islands. Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Curaçao are sex tourism destinations.
Crown dependencies are independently administered jurisdictions which do not form part of either the United Kingdom or the British Overseas Territories. They are self-governing possessions of the Crown. Internationally, the dependencies are considered "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible", rather than sovereign states.