Brothel complaint prompts letter

A Carson City woman's complaint about brothel advertisements in the phone book has led the Lyon County district attorney to write a letter to the Public Utilities Commission.

District Attorney Leon Aberasturi sent a letter asking commissioners to investigate the issue.

Aberasturi said he received a complaint from a female Carson City resident.

"She was upset because Mound House has a Carson City address, and she raised some good points," he said. "It is legal for the brothels to advertise in Lyon County, but it is kind of iffy."

"(She) believes Nevada law prohibits Nevada Bell from placing the address and phone number in their phonebook," Aberasturi wrote in his letter to commissioners.

According to Nevada law, it is illegal for someone to advertise a house of prostitution where prostitution is banned.

Full-page advertisements for the Sagebrush Redlight Ranch appear in both the Nevada Bell and the Tahoe Telephone Directories phone book. A full-color advertisement for the Moonlite Bunny Ranch appears under "Entertainers" in the Nevada Bell book.

Advertisements for brothels from as far away as Wells or Pahrump appear in the phone book, but none of them contain the word brothel.

George Flint, lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Association, said the advertisements are purchased for the area in which the brothel exists.

"There probably is some spillover," he said. "They were sold the advertisements in Lyon County. The ads were legally purchased in an area where it was legal for the brothels to advertise."

In a March 7 article appearing in the Sacramento News & Review, Keith Marcher, senior deputy Nevada attorney general confirmed the advertising ban.

"Realistically," said Marcher, "if the guy took out a big billboard or a TV ad it would be distributed to counties where it isn't legal and instead of trying to fool with keeping that under taps, I'd assume that the guy won't advertise at all."