Edited to exclude real names.  

Fairmont man charged with soliciting prostitution

OWATONNA — A Fairmont man who reported being robbed by two women in April has found himself on the other side of the investigation now after being charged with soliciting prostitution.
XXXX, 40, is charged with prostitution in a public place, punishable by up to a year imprisonment and $3,000 in fines, over a meeting that took place in an Owatonna hotel on April 23. He made his first appearance in Steele County court on Wednesday.
 
 
According to the complaint, xxxx called 911 at about 11 p.m. that day to report that two women had stolen $2,400 from his hotel room in Owatonna and that he was following them northbound on Interstate 35. Minnesota State Patrol troopers located them in Eagan near Highway 77 and pulled over the suspect vehicle.
The two women in the vehicle told a trooper they had met with XXXX and knew he was following them. The driver told the trooper she had met xxxx on the Internet about three months previously and that she and the other woman had met XXXX in Owatonna, where she suggested that XXXX wanted to have sexual relations with her. The trooper asked if she was given or promised any money by XXXX, and she said XXXX had paid for gas and purchased some clothing and that he had previously mentioned giving her up to $1,000 to help with rent.
XXXX confirmed to the trooper he had met the women online. He said he had arranged to have a back massage from the women in Owatonna.
The woman driving the other car told a trooper they had not gone to Owatonna for prostitution, but only for a massage, and that XXXX had tried to take it further. She also said XXXX gave her $2,000 for meeting him there.
At the request of the state patrol, an Owatonna police officer visited XXXX' hotel room, where they found a lipstick container, a small handbag, an iPhone, jewelry and a bra. The officer located the case where the $2,400 reportedly had been stored, but no money was found.
On April 24, Owatonna officers spoke to XXXX at  the hotel. XXXX said he met the women for a back rub and this was the fourth time he'd met one of the women for massages. He said every time he met the woman, they had sex, and said he keeps going back to her because "it is like an added bonus," according to the report. He said he was going to pay the women $60 each for the massage and travel time, but then said he had planned on spending about $1,000 for each of the women. He said that "if he admits to paying for sex then he admits to prostitution which is illegal," the report states. He admitted to having sex with both women after their massage.
XXXX said he found one of the women on an online classified ad website. He said that while they were outside the hotel smoking, one woman asked him to get her soda out of his car, and that when he returned he heard the women leaving in their vehicle and he reported his money stolen.
On May 22, an OPD investigator interviewed one of the women by phone. She said that she did come to Owatonna with the other woman, who she said was her sister, and that the other woman gave XXXX the massage before she and XXXX went to Wal-Mart. When they returned, she said her sister was in her car and told her that she'd taken the money and was leaving, and that this was what XXXX had agreed to pay but now he was asking for more and wanting sex.
The woman said XXXX offered to pay her for sex and wanted to have a threesome. She said she does offer massages but not sex, and that she was arrested for prostitution about a year ago in St. Paul and therefore no longer participates in that activity.
The case against XXXX was filed May 28. At the hearing Wednesday, the judge set bail at $3,000, and a trial date was set for Aug. 31. His only previous criminal conviction is a traffic offense.
Attorney XXXX of the Steele County Attorney's office said prosecutors are still considering charges against the two women, one of whom has several past convictions involving prostitution in Ramsey County