The LaGrange Police Department arrested seven females and one male in an undercover prostitution sting that wrapped up this week.

The sting was about two and a half weeks long and involved undercover officers posting on a dating website, according to Sgt. Mark Cavender with the LPD.

Cavender said the subjects, who all listed LaGrange on their online profiles as a place they were willing to travel to for sex, agreed to meet undercover officers at various hotels, where they were arrested.

“On their profile on these dating sites, LaGrange was one of the areas they were willing to come to,” Cavender said. “That’s why contact was made with them.”

Cavender said the sting started when contact was made with a group out of Atlanta.

“An undercover officer made contact with a group of females out of Atlanta via a dating website, who were willing to come to LaGrange in exchange for money,” Canvender said. “Over the next day or so, he arranged to meet with these females in exchange for money and they traveled from the Atlanta area, and they were placed under arrest.”

Cavender said based on that information the LPD continued using that website and located several other females who were willing to travel from Atlanta, Columbus and Phenix City, Alabama.

Cavender said the females were soliciting money in exchange for various sex acts through various means of communication.

Jameria Strong, 27, of College Park was charged with prostitution, cocaine possession and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Strong’s bonds totaled $6,000 and she was released to another agency, according to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office arrest reports.

Annsharee Rembert, 31, of Atlanta was charged with prostitution, possession of cocaine, possession of a scheduled IV narcotic. Her bonds totaled $6,000 and she bonded out, according to the arrest reports.

Alicia Manente, 20, of Auburn, Alabama, was charged with prostitution and her bond totaled $1,000. She bonded out, according to arrest reports.

Ashley Randolph, 28, of Atlanta was charged with prostitution. She bonded out, according to the arrest reports.

Kristin Winfield, 25, of Columbus, was charged with prostitution with a bond total of $1,000. She bonded out, according to the arrest reports.

Rhonda Civitarese, 51, of Phenix City, Alabama, was charged with prostitution with a bond totaling $2,000. She bonded out, according to the arrest reports.

Michelle Lester, 45, of Phenix City, Alabama, was charged with prostitution and possession of cocaine. Her bonds totaled $4,000, and she was released on time served, according to the arrest reports.

One male, Tycarious Harper was arrested. Harper, 23, of Powder Springs, was charged with possession of marijuana and open container of alcohol, according to the arrest reports. His bonds totaled $2,000, and he bonded out.

Cavender said the prostitution the LPD sees in LaGrange is not what you’d see in movies or in other cities.

“Somebody standing on the street corner is not typically what we see,” he said. “We see internet based chatrooms or blogs, groups whatever in exchange for drugs.”

He said the investigations help eliminate other crime as well, beyond just prostitution.

“One of the reasons we do [these investigations] is because a lot of times we find in the past that these are fake ads, where they are trying to sell sex but when somebody shows up they try to rob the person,” Cavender said.

“A lot of the times there are underlying issues. Drugs being sold, drugs being used, drug addiction, so it’s always a good feeling to know you are taking someone off the street for prostitution, but you are also taking underlying crimes that are associated with prostitution such as guns, violence and other things like that, and it’s all encompassed in the prostitution world.”