NORTH ANDOVER - Police arrested an Elm Street woman yesterday, charging her with running a prostitution ring that involved four girls ranging from 16 to 18 years old.
One girl was a 17-year-old from Andover. Two others live in the Merrimack Valley, but police refused to name which towns. The fourth girl is a 16-year-old runaway from Portland, Maine.
The girls' identities were not released, and none have been charged with a crime.
Police said they consider them victims.
Police first learned of the alleged ring Sunday. Yesterday, officers arrested the woman accused of running the house - Melissa Halstrom, 32, of 93 Elm St., Apt. 1. She pleaded innocent to the charges in Lawrence District Court later in the afternoon.
"We had to move rapidly on this because of the fact that we had young girls involved," police Chief Richard Stanley said while standing in the driveway to Halstrom's home.
"I'm appalled that some of the girls were actually given drugs," he said.
Sex and drugs
Police say Halstrom started her "call girl" business four to six weeks ago.
On Sunday, Sgt. Diane Heffernan interviewed the girl from Maine, according to her police report.
According to police, the girl, who allegedly used the name "Stephanie" on Halstrom's Web site, said Halstrom gave her the drug Klonopin "to calm her down" when she would have sexual relations with men, who she said were "mostly in their 60s and nasty."
"(The girl) had approximately 11 appointments a week and on occasion (would) see up to five men per day," Heffernan wrote in the report.
Police said the girl told the sergeant that she met Halstrom through a friend. Police said she and her friend went to Halstrom's apartment to buy Klonopin, a brand-name muscle relaxant used to treat seizures and panic disorders. Halstrom recruited the girl to be a prostitute, the report said.
Halstrom ran a Web site where she posted photographs of the teens inside her apartment "in various stages of undress, nudity and conducting sexual activity," Heffernan wrote.
Halstrom used her apartment as well as hotels in Woburn and Tewksbury as venues for the girls to meet clients, according to police. Police said the girl that Heffernan interviewed said Halstrom would determine how long each appointment would last and how much money the girl would receive from the men. She scheduled the appointments and would drive the girl to the meetings and wait in the car while the girl was with the men, Heffernan's report said.
One girl was a 17-year-old from Andover. Two others live in the Merrimack Valley, but police refused to name which towns. The fourth girl is a 16-year-old runaway from Portland, Maine.
The girls' identities were not released, and none have been charged with a crime.
Police said they consider them victims.
Police first learned of the alleged ring Sunday. Yesterday, officers arrested the woman accused of running the house - Melissa Halstrom, 32, of 93 Elm St., Apt. 1. She pleaded innocent to the charges in Lawrence District Court later in the afternoon.
"We had to move rapidly on this because of the fact that we had young girls involved," police Chief Richard Stanley said while standing in the driveway to Halstrom's home.
"I'm appalled that some of the girls were actually given drugs," he said.
Sex and drugs
Police say Halstrom started her "call girl" business four to six weeks ago.
On Sunday, Sgt. Diane Heffernan interviewed the girl from Maine, according to her police report.
According to police, the girl, who allegedly used the name "Stephanie" on Halstrom's Web site, said Halstrom gave her the drug Klonopin "to calm her down" when she would have sexual relations with men, who she said were "mostly in their 60s and nasty."
"(The girl) had approximately 11 appointments a week and on occasion (would) see up to five men per day," Heffernan wrote in the report.
Police said the girl told the sergeant that she met Halstrom through a friend. Police said she and her friend went to Halstrom's apartment to buy Klonopin, a brand-name muscle relaxant used to treat seizures and panic disorders. Halstrom recruited the girl to be a prostitute, the report said.
Halstrom ran a Web site where she posted photographs of the teens inside her apartment "in various stages of undress, nudity and conducting sexual activity," Heffernan wrote.
Halstrom used her apartment as well as hotels in Woburn and Tewksbury as venues for the girls to meet clients, according to police. Police said the girl that Heffernan interviewed said Halstrom would determine how long each appointment would last and how much money the girl would receive from the men. She scheduled the appointments and would drive the girl to the meetings and wait in the car while the girl was with the men, Heffernan's report said.
The girl would receive $200 for an hour-long appointment and would give half the money to Halstrom, the report said.
"(The girl) related that she spent her money on food, clothes, drugs, alcohol and paid $50 a week (for) rent," Heffernan wrote.
The sergeant learned of another "call girl" that went by the name "Alicia." She said one of the alleged victims told her four girls worked for Halstrom - a 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old.
Police said they looked at Halstrom's Web site and saw pictures of the girls and even of Halstrom herself, who went by the name "Angel Marie."
"The Web site was quite extensive, listing prices, hours of operation, frequently asked questions, specials and also solicited employment opportunities for interested applicants," Heffernan wrote.
Suspect has record
Halstrom's apartment is located inside a three-story, white Colonial-style house at the corner of Elm, High and Water streets, near the downtown.
Halstrom was charged with maintaining a house of prostitution, deriving support from a prostitute, distribution of Klonopin, distribution of obscene matter, posing or exhibiting a child in a sexual act, and inducing a minor to prostitution.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Strasnick asked Judge Michael Brooks to hold Halstrom on $250,000 cash bail, citing the 10-year mandatory minimum sentence she faces.
Strasnick also cited Halstrom's criminal record in New Hampshire, Florida and Massachusetts, her record of defaulting on court appearances, and a taped 40-minute confession police said was given to them earlier in the day.
Strasnick told the court Halstrom had told one of the victims that if she was ever caught, she would flee to North Carolina.
Halstrom has two daughters. Her lawyer, John Valerio, objected to the high bail, saying Halstrom had not been in trouble since 1998.
"She acknowledges the number of charges on her record. All of the defaults have been cleared and most were dismissed," Valerio said.
Valerio told the court Halstrom had lived at her present address for 21/2 years and has worked part time.
He said her record showed that when she had difficulties, she came to court.
Addressing the charges against Halstrom, Valerio said, "these cases are sensational. People don't expect this. Once time passes and we see things through a different eye, there are problems with the commonwealth's case."
He said the Web site job application states prospective employees must be 19 with positive identification and that nowhere on the site does it advertise for underage prostitutes.
"The police, in my view, acted prematurely," Valerio said.
He said rather than take the word of juvenile runaways, police usually send in a trained detective and conduct a sting operation, which he claims was not done in this case.
"My client disputes the characterization of a 40-minute confession and denies committing the acts charged," Valerio said.
He asked the court to set bail at $5,000 cash.
Brooks ordered Halstrom held on $150,000 cash bail and warned her that if she made bail and was arrested while her case was pending, she could be held in jail for 60 days.
What's next
Halstrom was ordered to have no contact with the alleged witnesses and victims in the case, and to have no unsupervised contact with children who are not members of her family.
She is scheduled to return to court Oct. 5 for a probable cause hearing.
Outside the courtroom, Valerio said Halstrom would most likely not make bail.
He continued his attack on the police case, saying there was no information in case documents on how the runaway from Maine came into the custody of police.
He declined comment on Halstrom's family, although it is known she has two daughters, one who lives with her and the other who lives with her father.
Chief Stanley said late yesterday afternoon that he had not seen anything so appalling in his 32 years in law enforcement.
"To know that a woman, a mother, would be involved in the exploitation of minors and the allegations of prostitution and drug use and driving these kids to and from meetings with johns is absolutely disgusting," Stanley said.
The kids involved in the situation "obviously have issues that need to be dealt with as children. To have an adult use them as this woman used them is something I'll never get over," Stanley said.
