Arizona Republic (Phoenix) (12.17.07) - Monday, December 17, 2007
Cecilia Chan

The DVD is the brainchild of Lex Anderson, a Youngtown Municipal Court magistrate and a judge pro tem. Anderson said the issue of child prostitution was raised before he retired last year as a justice of the peace: Police brought in a 15- year-old girl who said she was lured into prostitution by gang members who promised her a modeling career. Anderson received a $42,000 grant to develop the DVD, which took two years to complete.

The video aims to dispel the myth that pimps are "slimy guys in a trench coat," said Anderson. Instead, they are more often slick predators who use persuasive tactics to entice young girls into the trade.

And according to an undercover sergeant with the Phoenix police vice enforcement unit, seven years ago the average age of a child prostitute was 15. Today, it is 13, the sergeant said.

The DVD won praise from a group of educators and school- resource and probation officers who viewed it an annual state conference in October, said Phoenix police Sgt. Ed DeCastro. "I think it's a very good video that shows the reality of what happens to these kids on the streets," he said. "Showing these young girls, who are very impressionable, how these guys do it and why will open their eyes when they are in the mall or stores or wherever they are and random people approach them and start talking to them."
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