A Florida woman offered an undercover police officer oral sex in exchange for two soft shell tacos, WJXT-TV reports. Buffy Suzanne Bryan was reportedly arrested last Thursday as part of a citywide prostitution sting led by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The 47-year-old was just one of five women taken into custody as part of the undercover operation. All of them allegedly offered sex acts to officers in exchange for money, but it was Bryan’s case that gained national attention after the bizarre circumstances of her arrest were released by police.
That Bryan would be desperate enough to perform a sex act on a stranger for two Taco Bell soft tacos—which cost a mere $2.38—speaks to the dire economic circumstances for certain swaths of America. For many of these people, trading sex for money is the only way to earn a living. This was reportedly the ninth time Bryan had been arrested for prostitution, while the four other women had all been arrested at least once before.
As Vice points out, researchers from The Urban Institute found that “the underground sex trade in eight cities across the US was worth somewhere between $39.9 million and $290 million a year.” An industry of that size won’t be eradicated by a few measly sting operations. Perhaps officials should look at new ways to curb this widespread epidemic, like say, legalization?
