Prostitute problem at church has pastor fed up

(7/25/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- It's not a place you'd think there would be a problem with prostitutes, but the pastor of a church in southeast Houston says he's been dealing with prostitutes for years. Now he wants something done about it.

Residents say it's happening, not just at night, but during all hours of the day. They are desperate for help as their community is in some serious need of relief.

As pastor of the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, Reverend James Nash is on a crusade to save his neighborhood.

"With prostitution and drugs, it's going to be difficult to get people to move into the community," he said.

He says those kinds of activities are not only rampant, the people involved have no fear of the law or shame about what they are doing.

"They'll just go right around the corner in the back of the building and take care of their business in the vacant lot," Pastor Nash said.

It's so bad, even women who live in the neighborhood can't walk to the store without someone soliciting them for sex.

We put our exclusive Crime Tracker to work to see just how much prostitution there is in Sunnyside. Prostitution related crimes are actually down 10%. What's more, residents say it's like a revolving door. As many arrests as police make, it seems the women are back at the same corners in no time.

"It just makes me very, very, very angry," councilmember Ada Edwards said.

Angry because Edwards says she has dealt with this issue time and time again.

"It's not just a city problem," said Edwards. "We have to have help from the state Legislature to write laws that give some teeth to it."

State Representative Borris Miles told us, "It's not just a criminal justice issue. We need to take a holistic approach. We have to treat these people. We need to bring economic empowerment back to our community".

"Somebody in this community has to something about this," Pastor Nash said. "I am just fed up with this."

While the area is slowly redeveloping, crime continues to hinder it. The city is in the process of adding 150 more streetlights to the Sunnyside neighborhood in hopes of deterring some of those illegal activities.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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