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6 arrested in St. George prostitution sting after police pose as female escort

Posted at 2:11 PM, Dec 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-09 22:25:24-05

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Police arrested six men in Southern Utah Friday and Saturday during a prostitution sting where an officer was posing as a female escort.

Travis J. Coleman, Jay L. Farnsworth, Franklin W. Field, Donald K. Railsback, Lance D. Mackelprang and Larin D. Shenah were all arrested for patronizing a prostitute, a class-A misdemeanor.

According to probable cause statements released by police, investigators posted “several ads” online posing as a female escort who was advertising sexual services around St. George.

The probable cause statements said that the men listed above responded to the ads, and at some point agreed to pay the undercover officer money for sexual services.

The men then arrived at a hotel room where the officer posing as an escort was located, the probable cause statement said. They were then arrested for the above charge. Many of the men had given the decoy escort money, or had money on their person, the statement said.

Bail was set at $1,950 for each of the above individuals.