May 18, 2024
Local News

Optometrist hit in prostitution sting

STERLING – A Sterling optometrist is among more than two dozen people arrested in connection with a human trafficking and prostitution investigation last week in Muscatine, Iowa, the Muscatine County Attorney’s Office said.

Thomas Hogge, 63, is charged with prostitution, an aggravated misdemeanor, the county attorney’s office said. Hogge lives on Brandywine Lane in Dixon, according to the phone book, and practices at Valley Eye Care, 4600 E. Lincolnway, Sterling.

Sixteen agencies, led by the Muscatine County Attorney’s Office and including the FBI, worked on the investigation at two Muscatine-area hotels Oct. 24 and Oct. 25, the attorney’s office said. Authorities reported 27 people had been arrested.