By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

A child and adolescent psychiatrist who practices in Kissimmee but lives in Orlando was one of 16 people busted for assignation of prostitution and entering a dwelling for prostitution last week in an Internet sting conducted by the Kissimmee Police Department using a bait house.

Dr. Ramarao Makkena, 43, who has an office on Vine Street near the Osceola Square Mall, was one of those arrested June 10. Anthony Basden, 21, of Kissimmee; Ashley Morgan, 23, of Celebration; and Claire Fray, 36, of Kissimmee, were the only Osceola County residents arrested; all others charged live in neighboring counties.

Detectives from KPD’s Criminal Investigation Division spent part of last week targeting prostitution advertisements from Internet sites such as backpage.com and craigslist.com. During the course of the week, detectives replied to ads on the websites and also posted a decoy ad on the websites.

“Prostitution can bring with it drug-related crimes (including) robbery and burglary. By conducting operations like this one, we are taking steps on curtailing these types of crimes within Kissimmee,” Police Chief Fran Iwanski said.

Additionally, detectives last week attempted to expose unlicensed contractors who use Internet-based advertisements to defraud using the same bait house but at a different time. The bait house, which was rented with forfeiture funds by the police department for the sting, was in a gated neighborhood comprised mainly of vacation homes for which police gave out the gate code to suspects.

All the appliances in the bait house were inspected by a master electrician to ensure they were working properly.

The detectives then unplugged the dryer in the home and placed service calls to handyman services. An elderly decoy explained to the handymen who answered the ads that the dryer was not working.

Orlando handyman Javier Medina responded at the home June 9 to fix the dryer and within an hour, took apart the dryer and put it back together again. He then charged the decoy $60 without an explanation of what was wrong with the dryer or what repairs he had completed.

Medina, 46, was charged with organized fraud less than $300 in an affidavit of prosecution detectives submitted to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office.

“If the state wants to file charges, they can,” Stacie Miller, KPD spokeswoman, said.

On the positive side, John Deja, of John Deja Handyman, also was contacted; he plugged in the dryer and charged the decoy only $30, a reduced service call rate.

Deja, who has 13 years of experience as a handyman, said unlicensed contractors prey on the elderly because they are “easy targets.” He advised the public to ask and check for references when dealing with contractors.

Deja was contacted by the detectives and was commended for his honesty.

“It is important to hire only licensed, reputable contractors to do work in your home,” Iwanski said. “The Better Business Bureau is an excellent tool to use when deciding who is trustworthy enough to allow into your home.”

The last KPD Internet sting was conducted more than a year ago, Miller said.