Former FBI man tapped to help CNMI curb sex trade

The CNMI government is reportedly tapping the services of a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in desperate attempts to curb the proliferation of prostitution and other illegal activities on Saipan’s prime tourist area.

Former FBI agent Phil Godwyn, who was also chief investigator of the Commonwealth’s Attorney General’s Office, is being considered for a two-month consultancy services with the recently-created task force against prostitution and other crimes in the Western Garapan area.

Tapping of Mr. Godwyn’s services was reportedly discussed during the task force’s meeting Maundy Thursday, where members agreed to hire the former federal investigator as consultant to the anti-prostitution body.

With his consultancy services, task force members are optimistic the CNMI government will finally put an end to the growing problems of sex trade and other illegal activities in Western Garapan, which have apparently tarnished Saipan’s image as a safe and wholesome tourist destination.

The task force is reportedly convinced that they need the services of an investigation expert, not to mention someone who have worked with America’s prime probing body, in order to finally eliminate proliferation of crimes and prostitution on the island.

It was not immediately clear which fund will be tapped to finance the services of Mr. Godwyn, who is reportedly arriving on Saipan in June to begin work with the governor’s task force.

The mission of the newly-instituted task force, led by Attorney General Herb Soll, is to provide concrete solutions with regard to mounting problems of prostitution and increasing crimes committed against the island’s tourists.

Both public and private agencies are partners in this fresh move to rid Western Garapan streets of commercial sex workers, thieves, robbers, and other unlawful elements.

All government agencies have reportedly pledged active involvement in the initiative, in apparently a last-ditch effort to save the local tourism industry.

A survey commissioned by the Department of Public Safety conducted from September to December 2000 top-billed prostitution as the most prevalent concern in the area.

Prostitution equally tied with public parking in the list of the district’s most pressing concerns. Purse snatching, theft, burglary, sewage, trash bins, closed roads, street market, and littering completed the roster of problems a tourist destination venue can certainly do without.

Business owners particularly have long been pleading authorities to put a halt to the proliferation of prostitution on Saipan especially as these alleged sex workers have been known to encroach on their establishments’ premises in going about their “business” deals.

While police authorities and community members both agree that prostitution is an act that is so hard to prove, businesses especially hotel establishments are seeking a solution to this burning social problem.

Around the nation, statistics from the National Task Force on Prostitution states that over one million people in the US have been employed as sex workers, or about 1 percent of American women.

This figure is according to records compiled in the 1980s. Statistics further reveal that average prostitution arrests in the US mainland include 70 percent females, 20 percent male prostitutes and 10 percent customers.

Over the years, strong and heated debates have been devoted to the issues on prostitution. Today, there is reportedly no official definition of legalized decriminalized prostitution.

According to research, most societies that allow prostitution do so by giving the state control over the lives and businesses of those who work as prostitutes. (ARF, EGA)