Lynn sex offender among 19 nabbed in prostitution sting

LYNN – A local sex offender was one of 19 men arrested in a prostitution sting near Pinkham and Union streets Thursday night and into Friday morning, according to records from Lynn District Court.Lynn Police Lt. Christopher Kelly said 18 were arrested and charged with sexual conduct for a fee while one man, Bruce Joseph Mahar, 48, of 200 Eastern Ave., Lynn, was arrested and charged with open and gross lewdness.Kelly said the operation utilized a “decoy officer” and called the number of arrests “pretty substantial.””A lot of times prostitution is looked at as a harmless crime,” said Kelly. “But we have constant complaints from neighborhood areas that call and complain about prostitution. Inevitably it brings in drugs, house breaks, car breaks and a whole host of other crimes ? It’s not necessarily just the crime of prostitution that has affected these neighborhoods but the peripheral crimes created.”Mahar was held on $7,500 cash bail at his arraignment Friday as court records state he was still on probation following convictions in 2009 and 2010 for similar offenses.Police records state that just after midnight officers in an unmarked car watched Mahar “reach towards his groin area and was observed to unzip his pants.” The report states Mahar began masturbating and “made no attempt to hide his activity” while “staring at (the decoy officer)” who was unaware of his presence.After Mahar stopped and zipped up his pants, the report said officers arrested him without incident. Officers later learned Mahar was a level 2 sex offender with “two open cases for the same incident,” said the report.According to Lynn Police records, those arrested and charged with sexual conduct for a fee include: Ever Mendez, 23, of 24 Rockaway St., #2; Oscar Mardinez, 35, of 9 Barrett St., #3; Gueddy Rivera, 27, of 24 Hanover St., #4; Miguel Polanco, 23, of 462 Chestnut St., #2; Amilcar Chavez, 26, of 90 Timson St.; Mauricio Guerra, 37, of 84 Bayview Ave., #3l; Andre Robinson, 39, of 13 Michigan Terrace; Giovanni Maldonado, 37, of 54 Park St., #2; Miguel Rodriguez, 48, of 45 Chatham St., #3; Jeffrey Lewis, 55, of 82 Bowditch Ave., Peabody; Perikli Qirjazi, 45, of 12 Welch Ave., Peabody (also charged with resisting arrest); Anastasios Miliotis, 37, of 118 Eutaw Ave.; Michael Nadeau, 34, of 7 Webb St., Salem; Melvin Good, 28, of 8 White Ave., Brockton; Giovany Ramirez, 36, of 15 Story Ave.; Cesar Nolasco, 24, of 29 Morris St., #3l; Ronald Trofen, 52, of 20 Endicott St., Salem; and Edgar Miranda, 28, of 24 James St.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].