BBC News | AMERICAS | Call girl revelations threat to stars

BBC News Online: World: Americas

Tuesday, 14 March, 2000, 03:12 GMT

Call girl revelations threat to stars

By David Willis in Los Angeles

The lawyer representing a woman accused of running a prostitution ring catering for Hollywood film stars has threatened to expose her alleged clients during a trial in Los Angeles.

Jodie "Babydol" Gibson faces up to 17 years in jail if convicted of charges relating to allegations that she ran a high-priced call-girl empire, with clients not only in Hollywood, but throughout the United States and Europe.

Police say her clientèle included actors and producers, as well as senior businessmen and at least one professional athlete.

fleiss

Now Ms Gibson's lawyer is threatening to reveal details of her alleged clientèle because, he says, prosecutors were operating a double standard by deciding not to charge them or bring them to court as witnesses.

Ms Gibson,41, was arrested after a female police officer posed as a prostitute and approached her for work.

It subsequently emerged that Ms Gibson avoided prosecution for many years because she was having an affair with the detective who was assigned to investigate her.

Police say her business was so successful that at one stage, her main rival, convicted Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, approached her for a job.

But while Ms Fleiss declined to name names, it appears Ms Gibson has no such misgivings, and Hollywood is bracing itself for the possibility of some lurid revelations.

Internet links: Los Angeles Police Department |
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