In a first-of-its-kind operation in the lakes area, law enforcement arrested nine men in a prostitution sting in Baxter late last month.  
   The men are in the process of being charged by the Crow Wing County Attorney's Office for soliciting prostitution in a public place, a gross misdemeanor offense.  
   On May 19, Baxter police placed an advertisement on Backpage.com, a classified advertising website the National Center on Sexual Exploitation says generates nearly 80 percent of all online prostitution advertising revenue. The post, placed under the "Escort" section, advertised the services of a fictional 22-year-old woman named Sunny. The ad stated the woman would be in town for one day only and provided fictional photos and a phone number.  
   
 The ad - entitled "Fun and Frisky platinum BLONDE IN Town May 20th!!!!!" - read: "I'm super HOT & have tight lil' body for giving you a real TREAT!!!"  
   
 An undercover officer posing as Sunny on the phone set up appointments at a Baxter hotel with men who called or texted the provided phone number.  
   
   
 On May 20, police arrested nine men who knocked on the door of a hotel room, the number to which was communicated to them when they arrived in the hotel parking lot. The men arrested - known as "johns" - all have addresses in the local area and range in age from 27 to 71 years old.  
   
 They include a 27-year-old Little Falls man, a 32-year-old Crosby man, a 32-year-old Brainerd man, a 42-year-old Breezy Point man, a 43-year-old Breezy Point man, a 47-year-old Little Falls man, a 49-year-old Akeley man, a 62-year-old Aitkin man and a 71-year-old Brainerd man.