Police: SJ pair ran prostitution operation in retirement community
An alleged prostitution operation run out of a South Jersey retirement community was raided this week after a john complained he'd been the victim of a classic bait and switch and then shaken down for cash despite services not rendered.
An alleged prostitution operation run out of a South Jersey retirement community was raided this week after a john complained he'd been the victim of a classic bait and switch and then shaken down for cash despite services not rendered.
It began Tuesday night at an upscale retirement community in Manchester, Ocean County. Leisure Village West bills itself as an active adult senior community "in a country club setting." It's slogan: "It's the time of your life to have the time of your life."
A man rang the bell at one of Leisure Village's condominiums expecting to be greeted by an alluring prostitute. Earlier that day, he had found her listing, with several pictures of an attractive woman, on a website and had contacted her for a date. Her instructions led him to the Thornbury Lane residence, police said.
Anne L. Donahue, 33, answered the door, police said. She did not resemble the photos posted on the website.
The man turned on his heel and immediately tried to leave. But Donahue called her boyfriend, Philip J. Cottone, 40, and the couple refused to let the man go without paying the full charge for a session of sexual services, police said.
The man paid up, left, and called police to report he had been robbed.
As detectives prepared a search warrant for the Thornbury Lane residence, they located a second man claiming he had also been taken by Donahue and Cottone, police said. As police conducted their investigation, they observed multiple vehicles coming and going from the couple's condo. Eventually they determined that more than 600 vehicles had visited the residence "during all hours of the day and night" in the preceding four months, police said.
When Manchester Township investigators raided the home on Wednesday they seized quantities of cocaine and heroin and various items of drug paraphernalia. Police charged Donahue and Cottone with robbery, criminal restraint, theft, prostitution and various drug counts. Donahue and Cottone were lodged in the Ocean County Jail where they remained held Friday on $150,000 cash bail.