DuBOIS – Charges have been filed against a Luthersburg man who was allegedly offering to pay women for sex.
Mitchell E. Mancuso, 63, was charged by DuBois City Police on June 25 with two misdemeanor counts each of patronizing prostitutes and promoting prostitution/loitering for purpose of prostitution and summary counts of harassment and disorderly conduct.
The charges stem from an incident in DuBois June 10 at 8:40 p.m. beginning when Mancuso allegedly asked a woman if she wanted to make an easy $200.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police received a call from a woman who was accosted near Giant Eagle.
She said she was walking when a male in a dark colored truck approached her. When he asked if she wanted to make an easy $200, she told him no. He then stated a larger amount of money and she refused again. After she asked what he wanted, the man, later identified as Mancuso, said it would be for staying the night with him.
As she told him, she did not want to do that, Mancuso reportedly started to exit his vehicle. This frightened the victim who ran to a nearby gas station.
The officer was able to view the incident from the Giant Eagle’s surveillance video. What he saw confirmed the woman’s report.
While at the store, the officer was approached by two women who told him there was a man in a dark colored truck who asked them similar questions. They said he just drove away toward Palumbo’s Meats.
Several minutes later the officer was able to find the vehicle as it turned onto North Brady Street from West Long Avenue without using his turn signal, police said.
The officer then conducted a traffic stop on the suspect’s vehicle.
When asked where he was headed, the man said “home” but he also said he was coming from home. He was asked why he was making so many passes through the Giant Eagle parking lot.
Mancuso said he was just bored and driving around.
The officer then told him he saw him on the surveillance video speaking to the first victim and asked him to be honest.
At this point, Mancuso reportedly said he was lonely and attempting to find a woman to go home with him, because his girlfriend went back to Ohio.
Mancuso agreed to go to the police station to discuss the incident.
Two of the victims were also questioned and provided written statements on their encounters with Mancuso. They provided the amounts of money offered and gave detailed descriptions of the truck.
In his interview with police, Mancuso allegedly admitted to speaking with several women and offering them money to have sex with him.
Mancuso’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 27.