NEW YORK CITY: Police Seek Prostitute In Strangulation Murder Of Chelsea Gay Man

On Friday night Manhattan resident John Laubach, 57, was found bound, gagged, and apparently strangled to death in his Chelsea apartment. Police are seeking a young man that Laubach may have hired that evening on Rentboy.com.

Police late Monday released a set of surveillance photos of a man allegedly caught trying to using John Laubach's bank card after he died, police said. The photos are from an ATM machine camera. Earlier Monday, police questioned a 24-year-old man but released him after interviewing him. Law-enforcement sources told NBC New York that they were led to the man after using facial recognition software on a still photo taken from a surveillance camera. The search turned up a possible hit -- an old mugshot for the 24-year-old man. John Laubach was found unconscious in his fourth-floor apartment at 212 West 22nd St. in Chelsea just before 8 p.m. Friday, when a friend went to check on him, according to police. His arms were found bound to the bedpost by an electrical cord, his mouth gagged with tape and his face covered with a towel, authorities said.

Friends say Laubach was active in a local gay-affirming church and had been studying to become a pastor. Neighbors report that Laubach lived quietly and occasionally had young male visitors. Below are the ATM surveillance shots released by the NYPD.RELATED: Late last year Craigslist prostitute John Katehis was found guilty for the gruesome 2009 stabbing murder of CBS newsman George Weber. Several other high-profile murders related to internet prostitution have rocked New York City in recent years.

N.J. Mayor Resigns Amid Male Prostitution Scandal

A screen grab of the rentboy's website, www.mayormyers.webs.com, before the site was rendered unavailable. N.J. mayor Chris Myers, who resigned Dec. 5, 2011, is allegedly shown. (Photo credit: MayorMyers.com)

The mayor of Medford, N.J., Chris Myers, has resigned following months of allegations that the married father had hired a male prostitute while on a trip to California in October 2010.

The scandal began when the apparently disgruntled prostitute posted a picture of a man that looked like Republican Mayor Chris Myers lying on a bed, wearing only blue Calvin Klein briefs.  The man who claimed to be the male escort alleged that Myers, 46, had paid him $500 for the encounter, but did not fulfill promises he made to give the man gifts and a car.

The website created by the alleged male prostitute was taken down at the end of October, but a screen shot of the site shows the original post titled, “NJ Medford Mayor Christopher Myers Hired Me From Rentboy.com…All I Got Were Lies & Broken Promises!!!”

In an interview with New Jersey’s Courier-Post in October, Myers refused to comment on the claims but did not deny them. But at a council meeting in November, he denied the allegations and called the Internet “a murky, anonymous place.”

Neither Myers nor other members of the Medford Township Council responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Myers resigned Monday through a letter to the town’s clerk and manager, posted in full on ABC News’ Philadelphia affiliate WPVI. Medford Township is about 20 miles east of Philadelphia.

Seven of the letter’s eight paragraphs are dedicated to Myers’ “many achievements during my tenure.” He wrote about preserving thousands of acres of farmland, an energy cost reduction program and his efforts during flooding that severely damaged the town in 2004 and 2007.

“At this time, I feel it’s time to pass the baton, and allow others to take the reins and lead our town forward,” he wrote at the end of the letter. “My work commitments will not allow me to devote the time that is needed in the months ahead. That is why, today, I am resigning from the Medford Township Council, effective immediately.”

Medford Councilman Bob Martin was selected to assume the vacant mayor’s seat.

“It’s just sad. The whole thing has been horrible for him, his family and for Medford township. We really don’t even know if it’s true, because it was an anonymous person that did this stuff on the Internet,” Martin told ABCNews.com. “We got a lot of bad publicity from it, but I believe he did the right thing. I really believe that this is for his own good, for his family’s good and for the good of the Township.”

Underwear photo is below----

83 year old candidate charged with prostitution

This morning I found this odd bit of news......If you're a politician, you're never too old for a sex scandal.

On Tuesday, police arrested Ben Clifford Dawson (pictured left), an 83-year-old candidate eying a seat on the Centerville, Iowa, city council, for alleged prostitution, according to TV station KTVO.
He's no gigolo, but he's in trouble.

Dawson, allegedly told Melissa Drew that he'd shave some money off her debt to him if he could perform unspecified sexual acts on her, a police report said.

Dawson made the offer several times after he loaned her several thousand dollars in June, Chief of Police Tom Demry said to HuffPost. At the time of the original transaction, Drew says Dawson grabbed her and kissed her neck, station KCCI says.

Prostitution is a misdemeanor and Demry told The Huffington Post that the law dosen't distinguish between johns and hookers.

A 10-day investigation by the Centerville police department led to charges of prostitution and intent to commit sexual abuse against Dawson, who was freed after posting $2,000 bond.

It's unclear how the arrest will affect Dawson's odds of getting a seat on the five-person city council. The election is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Undercover Newark Cop Touched Himself And Fondled Masseuse During Sting Operation

Police in Newark, N.J., will implement a new protocol for sting operations after an undercover vice cop pleasured himself and fondled a masseuse during a prostitution bust at a massage parlor.

After being offered a "full massage" by a 22-year-old woman in a Bloomfield Avenue parlor on Sept. 28, the detective -- who was wearing a wire -- stripped down to his underwear, paid the woman $80 and touched himself while putting his hand on the masseuse's breast, according to police documents obtained by The Star-Ledger.

Law enforcement officials reportedly burst into the massage parlor and arrested two women for promoting prostitution and narcotics charges.

The incident might raise eyebrows, but Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio told the paper that the officer wasn't acting with "bad intentions."

"There is no department protocol in place for what to do in an undercover vice operation. And that's what we're going to change," said DeMaio. "Looking at it, certainly, there's no bad intentions here on (the officer's) part. I just don’t think he was prepped properly."

DeMaio placed the six detectives involved in the sting on administrative duty, according to Newsday.

News of the botched raid comes as the Newark Police Department faces heightened scrutiny.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department launched a federal investigation into the police force over years of allegations of misconduct. The investigation comes after the city laid off 162 officers citing budget constraints.