Saunders: Clayton, why was thy sting?

If a tree falls in the woods and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Who cares?

If, however, a woman falls down with a man for money in Clayton and no one knows about it or is hurt by it, will it get you arrested?

You bet.

Just ask the five women who were ensnared in a recent Internet prostitution sting there.

How big a problem is Internet prostitution in Clayton?

"Weweren't even aware this was going on until we were alerted by a citizen's e-mail," Police Chief Glenn Allen said Monday.

This concerned citizen - you say concerned citizen, some might say nosy neighbor - called police to let them know that women on certain websites were advertising sexual services in the Clayton area. They were advertising throughout the Triangle, which explains, Allen said, why Raleigh police helped out.

When a police detective contacted the women, they showed up in a parking lot, were arrested and led to the hoosegow. All were charged with solicitation and some, Allen said, "were in possession of drugs" and face additional charges.

By a show of hands, who thinks the citizens of Clayton will sleep better tonight knowing that five desperate women who earn their way by providing services to lonely, desperate, socially maladjusted men were locked up?

If I were a taxpayer in Clayton, I'd sure prefer having Mr. Lonelyheart paying for the women's room and board and food than my tax dollars.

There are, to be sure, studies purporting to show links between petty or "victimless" crimes and big crimes. For instance, when New York City experienced a significant decrease in crime during the 1990s, some of that was attributed to a crackdown on litterers and turnstile jumpers - the dudes who tried to ride the subway for free by leaping over turnstiles.

Chief Allen said he wasn't sure exactly how the women advertised their services. "I didn't personally see the ads. They probably just said escort services, but our intelligence told us they were offering other services."

I asked Allen if he were fazed by criticism that Clayton, with several unsolved arsons, is focusing attention on what many consider to be victimless crimes.

"[The sting] occurred in one day. Other than the time, it didn't cost anything," he said. "We continue operating as a police department even though we're still investigating the fires. We don't want Clayton to be known as the kind of place where this type of thing" is condoned.

Does that mean the department will conduct more stings?

"I don't know," he said. "We probably wouldn't announce it if we did."

It seems unfair to arrest the women without arresting the men who patronize them. If cops are going to set up an Internet sting to entice women advertising their illicit services, shouldn't they also set up one to get the men who solicit them?

Uh-oh. Perhaps they already have.