DOCUMENT: Internet, Sex, Crime

Virginia Cougar Still On Prowl After Caging

Despite recent bust, escort, 52, still peddling services

Cougar

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Cougar Playmate Bust

JULY 25--After briefly being caged, a Virginia cougar is back prowling.

A 52-year-old woman recently arrested for running a $300-an-hour escort business out of her Williamsburg home is continuing to advertise her services on an explicit personal web site that describes her as “your ultimate companion and adult entertainer.”

Shan Lea Caudle, who uses the alias “Shannon West” on her cougarplaymate.com web site, is due in General District Court tomorrow for a hearing in connection with her late-May arrest for prostitution, operating a bawdy house, and marijuana possession.

Police discovered Caudle’s home-based business--and its associated web site stocked with X-rated photos and videos--after pulling over a man driving erratically near Caudle’s residence. During questioning, the motorist admitted that he “had just left an address…where he was soliciting a female involved in prostitution.”

During a subsequent police probe, an undercover cop spoke with Caudle on the phone and she told him that “the rate is $500 for two hours and that she had condoms, marijuana to help him relax, and bottled water to drink,” according to a search warrant affidavit. Caudle is pictured above in a photo from her web site.

When, for some reason, the cop asked if it would be okay for him to “dip chewing tobacco,” Caudle replied that if he “needed something to put in his mouth, that he could put her pussy in his mouth.”

During a search of Caudle’s home, investigators seized bags of pot, computer equipment, condoms, “various sex lubricants and oils,” and 21 “various size and shaped sex toys” found in a nightstand drawer.

Despite her pending charges, Caudle has continued to advertise in the escort section of the Backpage.com classifieds web site. And her web site still entices visitors with the description that she is “very erotic, passionate, sensual and very, very, naughty by nature.” A “Donations” page--which includes a topless photo of Caudle--lists hourly rates and the notation “GFE/PSE.” The acronyms refer to her provision of both “girlfriend experience” and “porn star experience.”

In a brief interview, Caudle declined to answer questions about her escort business. “Sir, I don’t know who you are,” she said. “Leave me alone.” (4 pages)