Your Tax Dollars at Work: Owner Of Escort Web Site Jailed; Pimped for Porn Stars Authorities capped a two-year investigation into a Tampa-based Web site they say connects prostitutes and johns worldwide by arresting the site's owners Tuesday. Law officers say the site, bigdoggie.net run by Charles S. Kelly is an international prostitution ring providing contacts for escorts, reviews of their services, how-to's for johns and information on avoiding law enforcement stings. "If you were computer literate and had a laptop and you were a businessman, anywhere you traveled you could use this Web site to get you a connection and have a date for a particular evening,'' Hillsborough County Sheriff Cal Henderson said. Escorts pay to be listed and users must pay to be members. The site has message boards, databases of prostitute reviews, and directories for every state and at least six foreign countries. Authorities call the Web site the 21st century pimp. "It takes the street-walking out of it and it takes the setup with cops out of it when you were doing [it] this way,'' Henderson said. "It's a very effective method of running a prostitution ring.'' Kelly, 51, the president of TBD Partners, which operates the site, was arrested at his home Tuesday. He and Steven Lipson, 39, of Boca Raton, were charged with 21 counts of aiding and promoting prostitution, 16 counts of deriving support from prostitution, racketeering, obstructing an investigation and tampering with evidence. Kelly, whose nickname is "Big Dog,'' was being held at Orient Road Jail with bail set at $195,000. "The witnesses said that Kelly bragged that the main purpose of this board was to perpetuate prostitution, to make it safe for the girls, to keep the creeps away and to keep the cops away,'' sheriff's Detective Kirk Bowling said. Authorities say the site has more than 50,000 members. In Florida, 100 to 130 escorts paid $129 a year to be listed on it and up to $900 a month for a banner advertisement, Bowling said. "It was very flagrant; they were pretty much in your face that this is what this is all about,'' he said. The Web site also provides guidance on how to avoid arrest, including the "Top 10 Signs you are being set up by an undercover cop.'' Authorities froze the company's bank accounts Tuesday, which they said took in $30,000 to $80,000 a month. According to sources, the site was arranging "dates" with porn stars for as much as $17,000 a pop.
