10 charged in Pittsburgh prostitution sting

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10 charged in Pittsburgh prostitution sting

Tom Davidson | Friday, January 10, 2020 4:43 p.m.

Courtesy of Pittsburgh Police

Top row, from left: Moriah Asefi, Clara Bass, Kalil Bryant and Joseph Chism. Bottom row, from left: Brian Funk, Russell Hogue, Patricia Scarlett and Cody Singletary.

Pittsburgh police arrested 10 people in an undercover prostitution sting this week at a city hotel.

Police accused four of the suspects of working as prostitutes, according to criminal complaints filed in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

Undercover police used phone numbers found on websites to arrange meetings with them at an undisclosed city hotel, according to the complaint.

Among those charged were:

• Moriah Asefi, 29, of Jeannette, charged with prostitution and possessing instruments of crime.

• The woman who police say drove Asefi to the hotel, Heather Madhat, 49, of Akron, Ohio, was charged with promoting prostitution.

• Scott Porter, 40, of Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood. Porter is charged with prostitution. He worked under the name “Desire” and was billed as a female, according to a complaint.

• Clara Bass, 40, South Union Township, Fayette County. Bass is charged with prostitution and possessing instruments of crime.

• A woman who police say drove Bass to the hotel, Patricia Scarlett, 43, of Farmington, was charged with promoting prostitution.

• Two passengers in a car, Brian Funk, 26, of Uniontown, and Joseph Chism, 22, also of South Union, were charged with prohibited acts after marijuana and a pipe allegedly were found by police.

• Cody Singletary, 24, of Mt. Oliver. Singletary is charged with prostitution and possessing instruments of crime.

Those charged with possessing instruments of crime were accused of that crime for having the phone used to arrange the meeting.

• Two others, Russell Hogue, 39, of Petrolia, and Kalil Bryant, 26, of Emsworth, were charged with patronizing prostitutes and possessing instruments of crime — again, the phone used to arrange the meeting. Hogue was also charged with criminal solicitation and prohibited acts, according to the complaint filed against him.

Pittsburgh police would not provide further information about the operation leading up to the Wednesday arrests, said public safety spokesman Chris Togneri.

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