It's just after 3 p.m. Monday, school just let out at nearby Fletcher Elementary in Beaumont's Avenues neighborhood, and business activity is bustling along College Street. But Roberto Castillo is concerned about a different type of business transaction in the area.
Castillo says the Avenues is plagued with prostitution. He's the publisher of the Spanish newspaper, La Voz. He's using the newspaper to expose the problem. And he says lately, prostitution is exposing itself a lot, including during the daytime.
He says the prostitutes are not respecting the families, merchants or children in the area.
So Castillo now takes photographs of the activity and video as well. But he's not naive, he knows the reason prostitution exists in the Avenues is because there's a customer base.
He's hoping by letting those in the area know he's watching, and even publicizing the illicit behavior, they'll stop.
But not everyone's convinced Castillo will be successful. Mary Guidry says even police can't put the world's oldest profession out of business.
Guidry told us, "What can be done? They'll pick them up, clean the streets for a couple of days, then they're right back out of jail and right back doing the same thing they were doing."
Castillo encourages people in the Avenues to report prostitution when they see it, because by letting it go on, he says it will eventually hurt the neighborhood financially by driving away legitimate businesses.
In the meantime, he'll continue reporting about it in his newspaper, a newspaper with the motto, "The truth, even if it hurts."
Castillo also says prostitutes have robbed their customers, knowing the crimes are likely to go.
