Maybe he had a harder time getting material than I thought. Several commenters point to this arrest report on The Smoking Gun indicating Bates was arrested in '05 for paying prostitutes to have sex with their customers, gave stage directions, and told them how to detect undercover cops, all in order to make his tapes better to sell to the national media. Is it the curse of every vigilante to be drawn to the dark side?
Update 2: Bates claimed the charges were false. He admitted to paying the girls to tell their stories, but not to have sex and stage encounters. Charges were dropped to misdemeanors. Bates contends the charges were trumped by the DA's office up in retaliation for him catching police brutality on tape and it making national headlines. Bates also started a campaign to vote out DA Wes Lane, who subsequently lost his seat in the next election.
]]>First; I'm getting a great kick out of being on the Consumerist.com. I love this site and visit it often! Though I'm not sure exactly how my activism fits in a consumer focused blog - O'well.
Some of you should note that I am very open about my opinion that certain forms of prostitution should be decriminalized and not a burden on our limited resources. Specifically, prostitution that is 100% consensual, private and unorganized. Basically, one woman with a website working in an outcall basis (no pimp, no brothel, no agency, no curb crawling and no neon signs or fliers). What two adults do in the bedroom COMPLETELY behind closed doors is none of mine or the government's business.
Second; My arrest and subsequent charges were years ago and were the direct result of my very outspoken nature against then D.A. Wes Lane. Conveniently enough I had a pretty cozy relationship with both the police and the D.A. for many years. That is until I videotaped two white police officers beating the crap out of an unarmed black man with a white female prostitute. I was even able to show publicly that D.A. Lane removed part of the audio from the tape (I had made a copy). The audio in question had the police officer threatening to kill the black man - before he had pacifyingly resisted arrest.
After the D.A. lost his bid for re-election (see [www.voteoutweslane.com]) he paid for a focus group to see what happened. The #1 reason was bad press (he openly referred to me as the 'media snitch') and #2 was mine and another individual's malicious prosecution. Keep in mind, this was a D.A. who referred to himself in public as the "Minister of Justice."
He himself dropped and refiled the case against me three times to avoid a trial but continued the financial and mental burden upon me. After he was voted out of office no other D.A. had any interest in pursuing the case and all 9 felonies were dropped (up to 240 years in prison) if I would take a deferred for - get this - obstructing a police officer, by not turning in a videotape that was shot at an unknown date, unknown location and had an unknown content. And by not turing in this tape the police did not have the opportunity to review it for criminal charges against whomever was in the tape. They were in such a hurry to get the case over with they didn't even want me to come up with a tape or any details of one. The plea saved me at least another $50,000 in legal fees and will be removed from my record. Not once did I stop my activism during my case. The many documentaries and appearances I have made since then do not even mention the case as it has been deemed nonsense and vindictive. See [www.okgazette.com] for a good overview of the case up to the point it was written.
As for my activism, it draws praise and criticism alike. If I wanted to pat myself on the back I would have chosen feeding the children or saving the whales, but I figured those bases were covered. So, I choose something that most people shy away from because they do not have thick enough skin to tackle.
My goal is not the eradication of street prostitution as that is an unrealistic goal. My goal is to keep the topic of prostitution in the hearts and minds of the community and its leaders. To spur an ongoing dialogue and to dispel the many myths that perpetuate street level prostitution.
My way of doing things is over the top because I seek the loudest voice I can. I am competing with Hollywood, video games, TV and an MTV generation who think "Pretty Woman" is a documentary.
Street prostitution is not victimless.
]]>That said, I can't blame the video guy for wanting to clean up his neighborhood. I'm glad he starts off by disclaiming that its not Lowe's fault. I think that companies are often blamed for the acts of idiot employees (although companies certainly have a responsibility to try to screen and train employees).
]]>Sadly, this is moment in his life that his friends and family will never let him live down ;-)
]]>My husband and I looked at some of the other videos on YouTube and also checked out his site- while this guy definitely has nads, the "Johns" who pick these young women up and then get sex for $20, enlist 2 at once for oral sex or hop into their backseat with a hooker in a cemetary while people are 50 feet away paying respects....NOW THAT'S BALLSY!!I have to say I am on Bates's side- I wouldn't want this crap in my neighborhood either.
]]>It was a reference to a legal fight between the Video Vigilante and another Oklahoma City character, former Dist. Atty. Wes Lane, who called himself the "minister of justice." Lane charged Bates with felony pandering in 2005, accusing him of paying prostitutes to take men to places where he could better film them. Websites posted the Video Vigilante's arrest report.]]>Bates admitted he'd paid prostitutes "for their time" to share their stories but denied conspiring with them. He claimed that police and prosecutors had a grudge against him because in 2002 he videotaped two officers beating a black man -- a case that got national headlines.
Due in part to his tussle with Bates, who distributed leaflets around town noting that the prosecutor's wife had surrendered her medical license amid substance abuse problems, Lane was voted out of office. The charges against Bates were later reduced to misdemeanors, but the case took a toll on Bates' finances -- and his reputation.
Luckily i live about a mile from the worst area , but i have actually lived there years ago and it was insane to walk to the store , im not hot by any means and i dont dress provocative but cars would stop one after another trying to pick me up . Its humiliating and unless im waving and flashing my thong they shouldnt try to pick me up.
It is also not just sex in cars that was so bad ,we found needles , crack pipes and condoms left in our yard and alley .
Im not against prostitution , but when they are exposing children to theyre lifestyle and bringing dangerous perverts into my neighborhood , then i have a problem with it .
And to all of those misogynistic assholes saying that dating is prostitution, welcome to 2008. Women like sex now too!
]]>That, and illegal prostitution tends to attract, shall we say, unsavory kinds of people.
]]>@Grive:
Yep. I remember parking when I was a teenager. Didn't mean she was a whore. Well she might have been, 'cause that is the reason I went out with her, but I didn't pay her money (unless you count popcorn at the movie as some sort of payment).
]]>Without his confession after the act, the driver could have even ended serving a nice hot lawsuit to Master (videographer) Bates
]]>D-
]]>Ya know that chunky whore could actually be the guys wife/girlfriend and they were doing some role playing.
Ok, only about 0.1% chance of being correct. But if I was Lowe's guy I would have introduced the camera guy to my long time girlfriend.
]]>To be honest, the best way to combat this stuff in my mind is to get out in groups, take back those corners as places for families. John's won't pick up working girls when there are kids playing hopscotch being watched by parents.
]]>@BadBadKitty: EW!
OK, so definitely not a non-existent problem.
]]>This kind of thing bothers me "Our wives can't walk to the grocery store because of the hookers?" Really? Are the hookers trying to pick up his wife?
This guy is the wrong kind of justice.
]]>Or as a wise man once said:
"Why is it illegal to sell what is completely legal to give away?"
]]>The drug dealer is probably packing some heat. If he isn't his supplier certainly is.
The point about going after these people is to feel self-righteous with minimum downside.
]]>I stand corrected...it should have been "Lowes knows Johning"
]]>"Lowes knows hooking" (que Gene Hackman's voice)
]]>While I don't have an issue with the guy being caught, I do have an issue putting him on camera. I feel like everyone deserves their privacy.
]]>Here is his website. [johntv.com]
Crazy videos. He busts a lot of people. I am surprised he hasn't gotten a beat down.
What a waste of resources. Legalize it!
]]>No, I dispute begging the question by saying we should legalize prostitution because it can make great tax revenue. Lots of illegal things can bring in great tax revenue; many of them should stay illegal.
and the option of legalizing Organized is crime is asinine because if legal it is not a crime..then it is just an organization.
It's paradox day today.
First off - find any nonreligious reason why prostitution is wrong or wronger than a one-night-stand with a random person at a bar. "It's illegal" doesn't count, nor do any issues that stem from it's illegality (for example, the existence of abusive pimps). You won't, not unless you get into the realm of subjectivity (it's demeaning to the woman!!! etc etc).
Now, think of who is negatively affected by the act of prostitution. The John? nah. The prostitute? nah. The john's family? if he has one, then probably (who knows, open relationships exist). However, that's the fault of the John, and would still occur during a random one-night stand or an affair. There's no actual victim.
Now, compare to murder. Murder is a crime with a rather well defined victim, called the victim.
]]>and the option of legalizing Organized is crime is asinine because if legal it is not a crime..then it is just an organization.
]]>Whatever. Other than the swarm of hookers, I'm sure Oklahoma! is a lovely place.
]]>Bates "gave direction to the prostitutes on how to complete the act with a high probability of success," as well as tips on how to spot an undercover cop. Bates was hit with a felony pandering charge and a misdemeanor count of aiding in prostitution. The pandering rap, which is usually reserved for pimps, carries a minimum two-year jail term, and a maximum of 20 years in the stir.
...Figures a guy that has "Kind of Clintonesque, don't you think" as part of his working vocabulary ends up himself being arraigned on charges of pimping and faces 20 years. For pandering.
Perfect. Just perfect.
Don't ya know that a Lowe's truck is a prostitute magnet? I see why he has to pay for it, EWWWWWW!
]]>WAIT! Did he wash his hands, because I'd hate to be the next delivery...ewwwwwwww.
]]>Is it the curse of every vigilante to be drawn to the dark side?
"You'll either die young or live long enough to see yourself become a villan."
]]>States can make great tax revenues by legalizing prositution
]]>If you want to clean up your streets, get rid of the hookers and their wont be any customers coming around looking.
One hooker being arrested is worth probably about 50 Johns.
]]>This guy isn't doing anything to solve the problem. His intent is just to make himself seem special and get attention. Now, he risks something happening to him and his family, from people who might seek revenge.
]]>Cue Masturbates by MSI. Perfect music for the video
]]>This guy's brilliant, he's found a way to indulge in his sick love of voyeurism, make money AND get lauded as a good citizen. He and the Lowes guy make a good pair. What a couple of scumbags.
]]>This Bates guy is an asshole. Yeah, Master Bates obviously doesn't need a prostitute, but don't spoil everyone else's fun
]]>I am AMAZED at so many people here actually defending the lowes guy!
Hey, I am all for legalized prostitution, but not for hookers hanging out in my neighborhood having sex with johns. Hell! I dont want hookers hanging out ANYWHERE on the streets in my city/town.
And yeah the guy videotaping has obviously let this gone to his head & stepped over the line in the name of fame & greed. Shame on him for that.
But comeon! Who wants hookers on their neighborhood streets?
]]>I am not sure how this is consumerist worthy post...Are you warning prospective johns away from OKC turf?
Are you warning them about the low quality of Hookers?
That was the only consumer I saw in this post...
Lowes was an afterthought and had nothing really to do with this.
Donopolis
]]>So Mister Bates is getting off on videotaping Johns.
Or is my saying that a Lowes blow?
]]>Indeed, when that happens, inevitably women who are *not* prostitutes and who are *not* provocatively dressed, get propositioned. I can't tell you a) how incredibly that uncomfortable that is and b) how unsafe that makes a woman feel in her own neighborhood.
And please don't think johns look for hookers only during the night time - it happens at all hours of the day. (Once when I was about 7 and going to work with my father at 7am , he was propositioned by a hooker in Times Square). So yes, I could understand how when walking to the grocery store a woman could be propositioned by a john, and I can also see the inevitable when a psycho-john goes psycho on her because he "wants" her.
Should prostitution be legalized? Maybe. But until it is, it is still *illegal*. I want to take my kids to city parks - but there are parks I avoid because I know there are hookers soliciting, johns soliciting, and drug dealers there. Wouldn't you do something about it? Besides call 311 and complain?
]]>If this was FARK, the vigilante citizen would have gone ahead and joined in. THEN the cops would have shown up.
@SuffolkHouse: because in america sex is criminalized and the sexual are demonized.
]]>the guy got a "penguin" for $100, from a fat hooker..
]]>Yeah, he sells it and it's not even GOOD
]]>But to berate the guy for a long time is inhuman.
Increasingly, Americans find themselves amazed and entertained by the "amazing and stupid things poor people will do." People use prostitutes for lots of reasons, but one isn't because they have too much money or too many hobbies. This guy is working poor, and you are all feeding on him. It makes me uneasy.
]]>@RabbitDinner: In all fairness, Ben makes a good point. This guy has no business picking up prostitutes on the job, in a residential neighborhood he doesn't live in. And I'd respect the Bates guy as a concerned citizen, except I read about him doing this sort of b.s. for over a decade and even selling his material. Asshat.
]]>@West Coast Secessionist: Every kid with half a brain figures out the dirty stuff for himself, with the help of friends. Sex Ed at my school was a joke. Why must we lie to and shelter our kids and leave them to figure it out on their own. If I have kids I'm not feeding them any stork bullshit, curse words are OK, I know you know them anyway, and you don't have to go to church if you don't want to. Of course, this is mostly just a critique of how many of my friends and I were raised, which I truly believe leads to this sort of article.
]]>No 2x4 in the cab? Turn in your keys!
]]>Prostitution hurts nobody. Why is it a crime? Regulate it into brothels so that way good, clean people can make they money instead of dirty, desperate, and diseased people that have to constantly look out for cops/"vigilantes".
]]>And did I notice a second tow truck following the first? If so, I wonder if it was called in to take the hooker away. (A hooker hooker?)
]]>Oklahoma sucks.
]]>While it is offensive that he was having sex with them while on the job, it is not offensive that he pays women for such sex. All men pay women for sex, that's just the way the world works. If you haven't paid a woman for sex it's because either a) you haven't had sex, or b) you raped her. Women will get their money one way or the other. Accept it, and move on.
]]>"Our kids can't play outside. Our wives can't walk to the grocery store..."
OK let's stop it right there. Just shut your mouth. Kids are playing outside and they appear completely happy. And if your wife wants to walk to the store, why can't she? Mr. Driver here is NOT propositioning random women, abducting children, threatening them, or exposing them to moral debauchery.
From a kid's perspective, some guy in a truck just stopped to talk to the chubby lady, he's probably friends with her because she got in his truck and drove away. Whatever kids were around the restaurant (not the same ones that saw her get in, since kids can't chase the truck in a car) would have seen a truck park and the occupants go in the back to look for something. Only a really really bored kid would have stuck around to wait for them to come out and draw conclusions. But even so I doubt they would have come out all naked and stuff. Now any kid old enough to understand what a prostitute is is probably going to put 2 and 2 together, but who the hell cares if they do? Do you teach your kids that no one ever does anything naughty? How is the knowledge that somewhere, someone is doing something against their parents' moral code, going to scar them for life? Of course, you'll probably go home and tell your kids all about this even if they're not old enough to deal with it, and about how this evil horrible man and these dangerous women are EVERYWHERE and about how they'll make YOU go to hell TOO and OH NOES WATCH OUT! That probably WILL fuck them up but oh well, whatevs right?
Mr. Camera Guy, you have a lot more to be ashamed of than Mr. Driver Guy does. Get a life.
]]>LOL! That was funny as HELL! ANd that guy was awesome! Ballsy! Stalled the guy and everything!
I was thinking for sure that one dude was gonna come off that truck swinging at the guy.
Sad though how the cop didnt want to do anything about it.
Sometimes when you do the cop's job for them in this way.... they get pretty pissed off as if you were somehow showing them up.
oh & EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! @ the hooker he chose. I wonder if he purposely chose a butt-ugly hooker because he knew the chances of a really ugly hooker turning out to be a cop decoy was really slim. I have hear that johns do this.
]]>Anyone know what neighborhood of OKC this is?
]]>If Bates had to pay people in order to keep making his busts does that mean Oklahomans were complaining about a mostly non-existent problem?
]]>@Geekmom: @RabbitDinner:
Exactly, I doubt these people are as concerned as with the law so much as they are with moral-based meddling.
I hate this citizen journalism sort of thing. Anyone with a camera and a lot of free time feels like it's their duty to interfer with other peoples' lives.
]]>besides, he's gonna wake up dead one day when a 'john' kills him for doing what he does. It's all a numbers game before he comes across the wrong guy...
]]>/not sarcasm
]]>And thanks Ben, now I can't get the phrase hooker jar outta my head.
]]>Who took the hooker from the hooker jar?
Lowe's Driver took the hooker from the hooker jar.
Who me? Yes you.
Couldn't be. Then who?
According to the [attached] Oklahoma City Police Department report, Brian Bates, 34, orchestrated the public encounters so he could peddle the resulting videotape to media outlets (some of Bates's surveillance tapes are offered for sale on his web site).
The guy realized the lesson of Batman, being a vigilante doesn't pay the bills. He should get some classes in journalism and join the local news as an ambush reporter. He could take lessons from the guy in Cleveland.
]]>thats all i gotta say.
]]>maybe he was doing his part to stimulate the economy with his surplus money, by buying an American made product.
]]>If they'd legalize and regulate prostitution we wouldn't have this problem. Look at the whore houses outside of Reno. Clean, almost resort like, and no where near children.
]]>Hasn't the guy videotaping ever heard of Man's Law? You don't bust other guys getting some action on the side. Jeez.
]]>"You paid 100 dollars?!"
Talk about taking back your community...
]]>