Cops in gun over child sex workers

Police have been urged to arrest men who use child prostitutes, after a TV3 sting operation in Manurewa.

The programme Stake Out filmed a young-looking 19-year-old actor telling prospective clients she was 14.

Under the Prostitution Reform Act it is an offence punishable by up to seven years in jail to offer to pay for sexual services from anyone under the age of 18.

Stake Out presenter Martyn Bradbury said the provision had not been used since the act was passed two years ago.

Alan Shearer, the senior manager of Counties Manukau police, told the programme that one problem was gathering enough evidence to lay charges, so police concentrated on getting young people off the streets and back home or to Child, Youth and Family.

Police ran traffic operations to pick up men cruising for sex, "because we know to give them Dutch courage to go and speak to prostitutes, they may have been drinking and driving," he said.

United Future leader Peter Dunne said police and officialdom did not want to know about child prostitution.

"And that is inexcusable. It is selling some very vulnerable teenagers down the road and ruining young lives."

He said police in major cities should assign similar numbers to those used at traffic checkpoints to arresting men for approaching child prostitutes.

Act MP Deborah Coddington said the documentary team had easily set up a sting operation.

"The disgraceful admission on the programme from the police was that because they believe men go to pubs before they go out and pick up prostitutes, breath-testing them or picking them up for bad driving means they get caught before they commit the crime. Oh please!"

She said if the documentary team had been police they would have arrested several men who agreed to pay $80 for sex with a 14-year-old girl.

"But this Government would rather have the cops outside the pub carpark, breath-testing the men just in case they decide to buy an underage girl on the way home.

"This is worse than lunacy. It's child abuse and it's an outrage."

Prostitutes Collective head Catherine Healy said she would rather see resources put towards helping the younger prostitutes, rather than into arresting clients.

"Overseas research showed it [arresting clients] did not make a dent in the numbers of men paying for sex from adult prostitutes."

On Stake Out, Police Minister George Hawkins refused to talk as the minister, but spoke as the MP for Manurewa. He denied police were turning a blind eye to the problem and said he was not concerned.

"If they are making sure that people know they are out there, then I think that's the way to go."