The scene on the streets in the westside of Greenville is a lot different than when Velma Montieth moved in nearly 40 years ago. "It was a nice neighborhood," the great grandmother says. "Then it started going down." Now, Montieth's neighborhood is a picture of prostitution. "My children used to play in the yard, and all the neighbors children played in the yard. i wouldn't dare let one play out now unless I sat here and watched."
Watching from her porch on West Morgan Street, Montieth sees plenty. "A lot of girls walking the streets, and men walking behind them," she says. "I've seen some of them with their cigarettes. Not the good kind!" It's the kind of thing Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis says he won't stand for. "We can't do it ourselves," the Sheriff says. Acting on tips from neighbors, his deputies busted 31 people for prostitution recently. The four day sting caught all kinds of suspects, women and men. Deputies say one man, Robert Gary, even brought along a 15 year old boy while he solicited sex from an undercover officer. "They're trying to drum up their business on street corners and roadways," the Sheriff says. "Nobody wants that going on."
Even with the bust, the problem isn't going away. Loftis says most suspects are out of jail within a few hours, and out on the streets turning their old tricks. "It's a revolving door," he says. With crowded jails and small penalties, Loftis adds that erasing the problem is impossible. Montieth hopes they'll keep trying. "They are cleaning it up."
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