DL Truth: Distance Learning Truth

Quote:David Flory, Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor, Accused Of Running Prostitution Site
MADISON, N.J. — A New Jersey college professor has been arrested in New Mexico and is accused of operating a prostitution website.

David Flory teaches physics at [regionally accredited] Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J.

On Sunday, police arrested the New York City resident in Albuquerque, N.M., on 40 counts of promoting prostitution. Police say Flory has long owned a vacation home in Santa Fe.

Albuquerque Police Lt. William Roseman told The Record newspaper Flory's website, Southwest Companions, was designed to give users access to more women once they gained Flory's trust.

Roseman says Flory told police he did not make money off of the website and saw it as a hobby.

Fairleigh Dickinson University said it was saddened. The university did not say if the professor has been suspended from his job.

Aw, Fairly Ridiculous was "saddened." Sniff, sniff, boo hoo. Not "outraged" or "embarrassed," just a little bit blue and hoping the mood will pass.

Aren't they seeing the possibilities for a jackpot here? Chip sets up the website. DesElms procures the "wellness professionals." Gollin declares it's his new hobby and part of his public service obligation. Bear promotes it until the feds call, then says it was all just a big joke and rats out the others. Nobody gets paid so they all sue Gus. Where have we seen this before?

To be fair, I think it could be a dating site in which some prostitutes happened to get connected to.
Craig's list was a lot similar when it had advertizements for similar services.

I would say that the police should spend their time more productively. Consensual sex between adults should not be a crime, regardless if money was exchanged for it or not.

Quote:ANOTHER 'pimping professor': Former university president, 71, arrested over online prostitution ring
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:59 AM on 24th June 2011

A second university professor has been charged over running an online prostitution ring.

New Mexican authorities arrested former University of New Mexico President F. Chris Garcia for promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.

The news comes days after David Flory, a physics professor at Fairleigh Dickinson in New Jersey, was arrested on Sunday over prostitution.

Authorities claim Mr Garcia, a 71-year-old political scientist and professor emeritus at the university, was arrested as part of the same Southwest Companions case.


Second professor caught: former University of New Mexico President F. Chris Garcia, 71, was also arrested as part of the Southwest Companions case

The U.S. Secret Service is separately investigating whether Mr Flory made money creating personal websites for prostitutes who used his site, the New York Post reports.

Special Agent Rich Ferretti said: 'We're looking at the interstate angle and potential wire fraud.'

Police sources said Mr Flory set up a site for, among others, 'Krispi Kreme,' a Colorado-based escort who promised to provide 'a full girlfriend experience that will leave you breathless.'


Interstate crime: the Secret Service is now involved in the case due to a Colorado escort named 'Krispi Kreme,' who professor David Flory allegedly set up a website for

Mr Garcia's arrest comes after Mr Flory, 68, allegedly tried to delete material from his Southwest Companions online brothel days after police infiltrated the site with the help of a turncoat hooker in early January.

Lt. Lieutenant William Roseman, of the Albuquerque police department in New Mexico, said: 'I think he was starting to get hinked up and he was trying to hide his involvement.'

The married grandfather -- who has a master's degree from Columbia and a PhD from Yeshiva University -- was arrested on Sunday after a six-month undercover operation and released on Wednesday evening on $10,000 cash bail.


Undercover sting: David Flory, 68, has been charged with 40 counts of promoting prostitution for allegedly running an escort website

He's accused of running a prostitution website with 200 women and more than 1,400 clients.


Double life: David Flory, a physics professor, taught at the same university for 42 years

Mr Flory was ordered to remain in New Mexico, have no contact with prostitutes and to stay off the Internet.

Online posts show he desperately sought help starting January 4 when he couldn't delete explicit posts.

In his first post on a computer help forum he asked: 'How do I troubleshoot this? Or, better, how do I fix it?'

Computer boffins responded with several ideas.

'I tried all three suggestions and none worked. Same error message,' Mr Flory replied.

A month later the professor, who has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson university for 42 years, still couldn't delete the sleazy content and made a panicked cry for 'help, please!'

Authorities say Mr Flory's business serviced as many as 200 hookers and 1,400 men across the south west, and was based at his luxury vacation home in Albuquerque.

Using code, the women would advertise the sexual services they were willing to perform and how much they charged.


Luxury: The New Mexico holiday home owned by David Flory and his wife Sharon


Elegant: According to the couple's website, their house in New Mexico 'provides 2,800 square feet of gracious living'

The clients, who needed Mr Flory's personal OK before they could join the site, would be able to rate the call girls to give other clients inside information.

Detectives are now searching computers seized from Mr Flory's 13-room apartment on New York's Upper west side and his office at the New Jersey college to see if he had a similar sex scam operating there.

Mr Flory allegedly told police he thought of the website as a helpful hobby, which he designed as 'a safe place for guys to find female prostitutes.'

Officers claim Mr Flory was even logged on to the website via his phone when they arrested him in a branch of Starbucks.


Explicit: Forums on the website contained tips on how to avoid being arrested, a guide to the 'hobby' and a section called 'sweet seduction'

Mr Flory and his wife Sharon, a psychotherapist, have two adult daughters, Gillian and Miranda, a stepdaughter, Cynthia, and four grandchildren.

Mr Roseman said police tracked Mr Flory down after one of the prostitutes tipped them off.

Undercover detectives then posed as website users for months, eventually becoming 'trusted' members so they could see the whole site and eventually find Flory.

Mr Flory has been charged with 40 counts of promoting prostitution.

Dina Schipper, a spokesman for Fairleigh Dickinson, said: 'Since becoming aware of the arrest, the university has cooperated with law enforcement authorities as they seek to gain the most accurate information as part of their ongoing investigation in New Mexico.'


Tips: The website allowed users to rank and review prostitutes, and had around 1,400 clients

Good news for Greggy and his "research": a website is not a whorehouse.

Quote:College president 'prostitution' site ruled legal
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS | Associated Press – 6 hrs ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A website that authorities say two aging professors used to run a multistate prostitution ring is legal, a state judge has ruled, highlighting the difficulties that prosecutors face in using decades-old laws to combat a modern phenomenon.

The ruling comes as prosecutors were scheduled to present to a grand jury their case against former University of New Mexico President F. Chris Garcia, who is accused of helping a physics professor from New Jersey oversee a prostitution website called "Southwest Companions."

State District Judge Stan Whitaker ruled that the website, an online message board and Garcia's computer account did not constitute a "house of prostitution," the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Whitaker also said the website wasn't "a place where prostitution is practiced, encouraged or allowed."

The ruling means that prosecutors will now have to decide how to proceed with a case involving Garcia, retired Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory and others.

They were arrested last June on a criminal complaint charging them with promoting prostitution. Flory, a retired physics professor at the New Jersey school and has a home in Santa Fe, is accused of buying the site in 2009.

Garcia's attorney, Robert Gorence, said Garcia was satisfied with the judge's decision and felt vindicated. A woman who answered the phone at Flory's Santa Fe residence said he had no comment.

Investigators said the prostitution ring had a membership of 14,000, including 200 prostitutes. Members paid anywhere from $200 for a sex act to $1,000 for a full hour. Prostitutes were paid with cash, not through the website, according to police.

But the ruling also showed the difficulty that prosecutors have in trying prosecute owners of websites that promote or facilitate prostitution because of laws created long before the Internet age, experts say.

"Most state laws only address street walkers and brothels and are so narrowly written that it's hard to prosecute these new cases," said Scott Cunningham, a Baylor University economics professor who has written about technology and prostitution.

For example, Cunningham said, Craigslist withstood lawsuits and challenges by law enforcement agencies and district attorneys' offices to shut down its erotic services section and only closed them later for publicity reason.

To change laws, Cunningham said, some states will have to pass laws that outline step-by-step regulations on websites.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Drebing said prosecutors' options are limited because New Mexico has laws on the books for computer fraud and use of computers and the Internet for child pornography, but none geared toward prostitution.

Drebing said no decisions have been made about how prosecutors intend to move forward with their case.