Some are desperate to make money to feed their families or in some cases to get their next fix. Some are mothers and grandmothers.

They find men — young, old, rich and poor — who are willing to pay them to perform what has been called the “world’s oldest profession.”

Prostitution is not a crime only found in the larger cities.

Recent arrests, including the raid on what police called a house of prostitution earlier this month, is a reminder that sex is for sale in Rome.

“They (prostitutes) may think it’s a whole lot easier for them to do this then to have to go out and find a job,” said Joey Jacobs, commander of the Rome Floyd Metro Task Force. “What we are finding is they are addicted to some form of drug, usually crack.”

But what police found in a house on Wilkins Street earlier this month was a professional organization.

“These girls are being recruited to do this in a group,” Jacobs said. “They develop contact numbers for every city in the Southeast. It’s a huge network.”

Vasquez Paulina Medina, 31, was charged with prostitution. Police believe she had sex with at least six men the day she was arrested.

Her earnings —“Maybe $5 or $10 each,” Jacobs said.

That’s because the house had a boss who took a cut. He is Elifas Escalante-Hernandez, 22, who was charged with keeping a house of prostitution.

“Houses of ill repute” are a part of Rome’s history.

“This is my 16th year and they were here before that,” Jacobs said.

In 1968, three men were accused of bringing teenagers to Rome from New Orleans where they would have sex with men in a house in Cedar Street.

Peggy’s was a known house of prostitution according to Rome News-Tribune archives. But that house, located on East First Street, burned down according to a story in the newspaper in 1972.

But most women arrested for prostitution in Rome don’t have “pimps” nor do they work out of a house, Jacobs said.

And most of them have been on the streets for many years.

“A lot of the girls started at an age when they didn’t think they had anything else to turn to,” Jacobs said.

Where do they work? Maple Street and hotels on Martha Berry Highway are some of the hot spots, Jacobs said.

Who solicits their services? Men from all socioeconomic backgrounds and ages, Jacobs said.

The Task Force has done reverse stings to catch these men, who get charged with soliciting.

Most of the charges associated with prostitution are misdemeanors — prostitution, keeping a house of prostitution and soliciting.

“They’ll go covert for a while then we’ll see them again,” said Maj. Elaine Snow of the Rome Police Department.

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