Thursday, 4:30 PM
Police: Salem mother working as dominatrix, charged with prostitution
By Andrew Ryan and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff
Police charged a Salem mother with prostitution after investigators said her husband told two patrolmen she had transformed the family basement into a dominatrix lair to earn extra money in their quiet, residential neighborhood.
The husband told officers about Paula Webb's bondage business after the couple got in an argument on March 16. Police said Stephen Webb, 54, showed two patrolmen ropes, whips, a leather mask, and other accessories in a mock dungeon.
"She had one of those leather masks like in Pulp Fiction," said Detective William Jennings, the arresting officer, today in a telephone interview.
Jennings went undercover and answered an ad he said Paula Webb posted on-line. With her 6-year-old and 9-year-old children upstairs, Webb led the detective into the basement and agreed to have sex with him for $150, Jennings said today in a telephone interview.
A moment later, Webb recognized the man. "You look like a cop I used to know," she said, according Jennings.
Webb made the connection too late. "I said, 'Yeah, I'm Bill Jennings,'" the detective recalled. "You're under arrest."
Webb, 42, was charged with sexual conduct for a fee and pleaded not guilty Thursday at her arraignment, according to a spokesman for the Essex District Attorney's office. She was released without bail.
The crime carries a penalty of up to one year in jail. Authorities contacted the Department of Social Services about her two children.
