LAWRENCE - A woman charged with luring sex-seeking men into her North Andover apartment and then robbing them, called her victims "losers" who "deserve to have their money taken," police said.

Judiann Madera, 34, of 91 Main St., Apt. 2, North Andover, told police she went to the Stevens Memorial Library - North Andover's public library - and posted an advertisement on the Web site craigslist.com offering sex for money.

She said she didn't have sex with anybody; rather, she and her boyfriend robbed the men when they showed up at her apartment, according to a report written by Officer Jay Staude.

Madera, a native of Methuen, confessed to police during a recorded interview that she and her boyfriend, whom police also arrested, came up with the idea after watching a news report "about craigslist and prostitution," Staude wrote in his report.

"We came up with this idea where we would do the same thing, but rather than go through with the physical act or sexual act, that we would just take the money," Madera told Staude and Inspector Eugene Salois, according to a summary of the confession.

"We just figured they're ... losers anyway ... they deserve to have their money taken, because, not that they deserve it, I know that it's wrong, but if you're stupid enough to pay somebody, then you're stupid enough to get your money taken," police quoted her as saying.

Madera was in Lawrence District Court yesterday facing charges of sexual conduct for a fee, deriving support from prostitution, attempting to commit a crime (unarmed robbery) and conspiracy. Police arrested her after an undercover operation last Monday.

They released Madera on her own recognizance from the police station after she paid a $40 fee. She was supposed to show up in court the following day - last Tuesday - but she didn't, so a judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

Madera didn't go to court because she spent the week at Baldpate Hospital in Georgetown, a facility for people in need of mental health and substance abuse services, her attorney, Anthony Ortiz of Lawrence, said in court yesterday.

Madera suffers from manic depression and schizophrenia, Ortiz said.

She had an "episode" after her arrest, and her mother took her to the hospital - and nobody told police where she was. She stayed there until yesterday, when her health insurance expired. Madera had to leave the hospital because she had no insurance, so her social worker called the North Andover police and let them know she was there. The police picked her up and brought her to court, Ortiz said during an interview after the arraignment.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Kunsch asked Judge Michael Brooks to order Madera held on $5,000 cash bail. Ortiz argued for personal recognizance.

The judge set bail at $500 cash, and a member of Madera's family posted it for her. Madera and another woman declined to comment outside the courthouse.

But Madera said plenty to police, according to the reports.

She said she and her boyfriend and co-defendant, Bienvenido "Benny" Almenas, 24, of 84 Bromfield St., Lawrence, ran the scam on about 10 men over a course of about five months, according to the interview summary.

Police arrested Almenas when they arrested Madera, along with Almenas' brother, Kelvin, 23, also of 84 Bromfield St.

Kelvin Almenas told police he had only participated in the scheme a couple of times but knew his brother and Madera did it several times without him. He said he did it because he received a cut of the money, the police report said.

Kelvin Almenas said the men looking for sex were easy targets for a robbery, "because they wouldn't report it," the report said.

Madera told police the scam yielded $80 in some cases and $150 in others. She said she spent the stolen money on food and bills

Police said they learned about the scam when a victim e-mailed police on Sept. 28 and tipped them off to the situation. He told them he was robbed of more than $200, and he worried the same thing would happen to other people. Police conducted an undercover operation where they called the phone number in the craigslist.com advertisement and set up an appointment.

During the undercover operation, Staude went to the apartment last Monday. Madera took him into the bedroom, asked him if he was a police officer and offered to have sex with him, and he gave her $160. She left the room, saying she was getting a condom. Then, the Almenas brothers walked in and confronted Staude in a "threatening manner and tone of voice," the report said.

Three officers arrived for backup, and police arrested the trio. Madera told them her 13-year-old son was in the back bedroom. Police called the state Department of Social Services, who later placed the boy into custody with relatives, police said.

Ortiz, Madera's lawyer, questioned the charge of deriving support from a prostitute because there was no sex taking place, and he questioned the charge of attempting to commit a crime because the Almenas brothers never demanded money from Staude.

The brothers appeared in court last week and are being held on $2,000 cash bail, according to court documents. They are due back in court on Friday. Madera is due back in court Nov. 8.