Crime & Safety

Iowa City Police: Dispute Over $200 Payment for 'Erotic Massage' Leads to Assault, Prostitution Charges

Police say that an argument over money ensued after the man and woman consummated the sexual transaction, leading to officers arriving on the scene.


In the end it would have been a lot cheaper if he had just paid and let her go.

An Iowa City man is facing assault and prostitution charges after a dispute over a prostitution fee brought officers to his apartment at 520 Ernest St.

According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, police officers were dispatched to the Ernest Street address at 4:23 yesterday (April 10) for the report of a dispute over money for a sexual transaction. There they met Hamed El Mohamd, 27, the man who allegedly hired the prostitute, and Alysia Marie Talbert, 23, the woman that he had allegedly hired for sexual favors.

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Mohamd reportedly told police that he had hired Talbert for "an erotic massage," and that he had asked to have sex with her for the money and she had agreed. The two had sex, according to the complaint, and when it was over the woman asked for the agreed upon fee, leading to a dispute over pricing. Mohamd allegedly barred Talbert from leaving, locking the door. Police say he then pushed her against the bed, grabbed her by the neck and struck her in her right temple.

When examined by officers, Talbert had an abrasion to her temple and red marks on her neck.

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Both Talbert and Mohamd allegedly confessed to the prostitution. According to the police complaint, Mohamd showed police the website Talbert had created for her prostitution business in Iowa, and said he had used a number taken from the site to call her. Talbert admitted to police to working as a prostitute for the last five years, and she had the $200 fee from Mohamd on her person and text messages indicating describing the parameters of the transaction.

Both Talbert and Mohamd received a prostitution charge, which is an aggravated misdemeanor. Mohamd received an additional serious misdemeanor for the assault. Both are still in the Johnson County Jail according to jail records.

A search of online records shows that Mohamd and Talbert have no recorded prior arrests in Iowa. A quick Google search, however, shows that Talbert has been arrested at least once before, for prostitution in Minnesota.


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