1. Mother in Salem faces charges of prostitution
2. Dominatrix, mom of 2, slapped with charge
3. Court orders review of Shannon evidence
4. Woman sentenced for sexually abusing girl
Mother in Salem faces charges of prostitution
by staff writer
Boston Globe
April 7, 2007
Police charged a Salem mother with prostitution after investigators said her husband told patrolmen she had transformed the family basement into a dominatrix lair to earn extra money.
The husband talked about Paula Webb's bondage business after the couple got in an argument on March 16, police said. They said Stephen Webb, 54, showed them ropes, whips, a leather mask, and other accessories in a mock dungeon.
Detective William Jennings went undercover and answered an ad posted online.
With her 6-year-old and 9-year-old upstairs, Webb led the detective into the basement and agreed to have sex with him for $150, Jennings said yesterday. A moment later, Webb recognized him. "You look like a cop I used to know," she said, according to Jennings. "I said, 'Yeah, I'm Bill Jennings; you're under arrest.' "
Webb, 42, was charged with sexual conduct for a fee and pleaded not guilty Thursday, according to the Essex district attorney's office. She was released without bail.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/07/mother_in_salem_faces_charges_of_prostitution/ To respond, write to: letter@globe.com
Dominatrix, mom of 2, slapped with charge
by O'Ryan Johnson
The Boston Herald
April 7, 2007
Hey lady, it's the Witch City, not the Whip City!
A Salem woman accused of running a dominatrix den in her home's basement – while her children were upstairs – was hit with a misdemeanor charge after her husband told police there was only so much abuse he could take, police said.
The dominatrix, Paula Webb, 42, reached last night on her cell phone, declined to comment.
"It'll get taken care of", she told the Herald. "My lawyer told me not to say anything, I have to listen to her. I'll talk to you when it's over if you're interested. Hopefully you won't be interested".
The accusations against Webb surfaced when several Salem police officers responded to the couple's home for a domestic fight. That's when the husband, angry after the fight and that Webb had left, dropped a dime to police.
"He was upset the woman had left the house", police said. "He said, 'I want to show you something'. He said, 'This is what she's doing', and showed officers the dungeon. At that point they turned it over to detectives".
Undercover Salem police Detective William Jennings hit the Internet, where he pulled up Webb's dominatrix site and arranged for a meeting.
"He made a meeting with her and Detective Jennings negotiated oral sex for a fee, at which point she was arrested", police said. Police said because the woman had two children, ages 6 and 9, at home while she performed her dungeon show, the Department of Social Services was alerted. Attempts to reach Webb's lawyer were unsuccessful.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=193382 To respond, write to: letterstotheeditor@bostonherald.com
Court orders review of Shannon evidence
by Paul Woolverton
The Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina)
April 4, 2007
RALEIGH – A legal door opened on Tuesday that could give sex swinger Joan Shannon of Fayetteville a new trial for the summer 2002 murder of her husband, Army Maj. David Shannon.
The state Court of Appeals said a Superior Court judge must hold a hearing to evaluate evidence that Superior Court Judge James Hardin blocked from the trial in 2005. If the judge decides that the evidence could have led to a "not guilty" verdict, Joan Shannon could get a new trial.
Otherwise, Joan Shannon, 39, will continue serving a sentence of life without parole. The state's case said she pressured her daughter, Elizabeth Shannon, then 15, to shoot David Shannon to death. The motives: $700,000 in life insurance and other death benefits and Joan's desire to be with her boyfriend.
Elizabeth, now 19, is serving a 25-year minimum sentence.
The Shannon trial was rife with tales of group sex gatherings and people manipulating each other for money.
Prosecutors said Joan and David Shannon were sexual swingers who were part of a local group sex club. David Shannon introduced Joan Shannon to Jeffrey Wilson, a man he met on the Internet, in late 2001 because he thought Joan would like to have sex with him.
Wilson went to several sex club parties with the Shannons, then started a more serious relationship with Joan in March 2002.
Over the next few months, the prosecutor said, Joan Shannon fell in love with Wilson. She wanted David Shannon to die so she could be with Wilson.
Wilson testified that he had no love for Joan. He encouraged the relationship because he hoped she would help him pay for a motorcycle. He had no knowledge of her plans to kill David Shannon.
In another aspect of her appeal, Joan Shannon said her conviction was flawed because the prosecutor unfairly prejudiced the jury. The jury was shown three photos of her having sex with Wilson, David and another man during a group sex party and it saw and heard about the Shannons' pornography collection, sex toys and activities with the sex club.
The three photos did not prejudice the jury, all three Court of Appeals judges said, and they said Herzog did not properly enter an objection to the other evidence.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=258883 To respond, write to: the author at woolvertonp@fayobserver.com or the editors at eletters@fayobserver.com
Woman sentenced for sexually abusing girl
by Laurie Mason
The Bucks County Courier Times (Pennsylvania)
April 3, 2007
A woman whom one judge called "the aunt from the depths of hell" was sentenced Monday for sexually abusing her 12-year-old niece while participating in slave-master role-play games with her boyfriend.
Doreen Stoia, 39, of Perkasie, was sentenced to 10 years of probation. She avoided prison by testifying against her ex-boyfriend, Robert Gress, at his trial last month in Bucks County court in Doylestown.
On March 23, a jury convicted Gress, 48, of Upper Makefield, of rape and related charges. He will be sentenced later this year and could face more than 40 years behind bars.
The child was assaulted at Gress' home during an 18-month period in 2002 and 2003. The child testified at Gress' trial that he started molesting her on her 12th birthday after having a talk with her about sexual maturity.
Gress, the former vice chairman of the Upper Makefield zoning hearing board, denied the charges.
During Gress' weeklong trial, witnesses testified that he participated in the bondage-sadomasochism sex "scene". One woman said she lived with Gress and Stoia as their "submissive". The woman said she didn't see Gress or Stoia abuse the girl, but corroborated the child's story about Gress' large collection of sex toys.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-04032007-1324385.html To respond, write to: the author at lmason_court@yahoo.com or the editors at gpetroziello@phillyburbs.com
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