Three Rivers Park board candidate nabbed in prostitution sting

Updated: August 21, 2012 - 7:28 AM

Matthew Laue

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Matthew W. Laue, one of two candidates competing for an open seat on the Three Rivers Park District Board, was arrested last week in a St. Paul prostitution sting.

Laue, 43, of Robbinsdale, is accused of making a sex-for-money deal with an undercover officer. He was arrested about 1:10 p.m. Thursday, according to a misdemeanor citation charging him with engaging in prostitution.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 5.

On the website InsightNews.com, Laue described himself as a married father of two young boys and a past Olympian who had used park district programs to "train and enhance my sporting ability." He is seeking the District 3 seat representing eastern Hennepin County.

Laue could not be reached to comment on Monday.

Police records show that he was one of 10 men arrested for allegedly agreeing or offering to hire a "prostitute" in St. Paul last Thursday. Eight of the alleged suspects live outside the city, court records show.

For a 2010 story about the police department's sex-for-sale Internet stings, the Star Tribune reviewed six sting operations over a year's time and found that only three of 66 men arrested were St. Paul residents.

A police commander said then that the department took its proactive approach to prostitution investigations as result of complaints from hotel and bar owners about prostitutes arranging liaisons in their establishments.

Despite a few high-profile arrests, however, the "johns" have kept coming, police said.

ANTHONY LONETREE