Prostitute describes Vitter affair

Original Link: http://blog.nola.com/updates/2007/07/former_prostitute_confirms_vit.html

By Kate Moran and Brendan McCarthy

Days after Senator David Vitter apologized for using an escort service in Washington, D.C., a woman who once worked as a prostitute in Louisiana said he was a regular client of hers several years ago while he was a state legislator.

The woman worked under the name Wendy Cortez. Her birth name is Wendy Yow, according to her ex-husband, who asked not to be named but said he has seen her birth certificate.

Yow, contacted through relatives, called The Times-Picayune Wednesday night and said Vitter was a regular customer of hers, but said the two did not have a personal romantic relationship. She claimed to have severed ties with him after she found out he was married. Yow said it was a part of her life she hoped to put behind her.

On Thursday, The Times-Picayune asked Vitter's office whether he had ever hired a prostitute or knew Wendy Cortez. In response, his office issued a statement that referenced his Monday apology regarding the Washington escort service and reiterated that he was not implicated in a federal investigation that led to the closing of a Canal Street brothel in 2001.

''Senator Vitter was very honest and direct in his statement on Monday. Unfortunately, that has resulted in political enemies and those looking to profit from the situation shopping all sorts of false stories. Four different lawyers in the Canal Street matter, including the lead defense attorney and the U.S. attorney, have confirmed Senator Vitter had nothing to do with the operation in any way. But sadly the media insists on being completely irresponsible and continues to report rumors and false accusations,'' said Joel DiGrado, a Vitter spokesperson.

DiGrado said that Vitter is spending important time with his family and soon will return to work in the U.S. Senate.

Two of the attorneys cited by DiGrado -- U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and defense attorney Vinny Mosca -- said Vitter's name did not surface or show up in documents during a federal investigation of the operation but did not go as far as to say that he had never been a client.

On Tuesday, Jeanette Maier, the ''Canal Street Madam,'' said Vitter was a customer at her Mid-City brothel but that his ties predated the investigation.

Confronted during his 2004 Senate race with a question about his relationship with Cortez, Vitter denied the liasions on a radio program.

''I think you know that that allegation is absolutely and completely untrue...I have said that on numerous occasions ... I'll say that in any forum,'' Vitter said during the broadcast on WSMB radio. ''Unfortunately, that's just crass Louisiana politics, now that I am running for the Senate. I have made that clear that it is all completely untrue...And, it's obviously politically motivated.''

Yow characterized the senator as a good man but said she was perturbed that he portrayed himself as a politician who would bring moral authority to his office when he was using her services on the side.

Her former boyfriend Tait Cortez, contacted by The Times-Picayune, said he has seen several photos of Wendy Cortez and Vitter together.

Tait Cortez, who works in construction and often travels to compete in weekend rodeos, said he dated Wendy Cortez for several years in the late 1990s and lived with her for more than a year. The couple never married. Her relationship with Vitter, which Tait Cortez claimed went beyond the brothel business, contributed to their breakup, he said.

''She said she gave exotic massages,'' Cortez, 40, said. ''That's when the trouble (between us) started.''

Towards the end of a waning relationship in the summer of 1998, Wendy told him she was an ''exotic masseause,'' Cortez said.

''She told me she had clients lined up; high-dollar people, lawyers, politicians, golfers,'' he said.

While unpacking boxes following the couple's move to Alabama in 1998, Tait Cortez said he found photos of a smiling Wendy at a formal affair, wearing an evening gown, alongside a man he described as a ''city slicker'' wearing a suit. In another photo, that same dark-haired man appeared with Wendy at a waterfront party, he said. The man was wearing shorts and a t-shirt next to Wendy in a bikini, Cortez said. ''She had his hand on his crotch,'' Cortez said. ''They were smiling.''

Cortez said the photo stung him. It was ''more sexual'' than any others, and he felt that Wendy and the man exhibited more than a business relationship, he said.

''She said it was a client of hers,'' Cortez said. ''She said it was David Vitter, a politician.''

Cortez said he and Wendy argued over the course of the next days during which he learned more about her line of work. ''She said it was all a job,'' he said.''I asked her what exactly she did. She said whatever they wanted. I asked her about sex. She said whatever it took.''

After returning home from work the next day, Cortez said he found a note on the refrigerator that said he should not look for her, because he wouldn't find her.

His truck also was missing, along with several items. Save for a few out-of-the-blue phone calls, Cortez said he hasn't spoken to Yow in several years.

Records show Yow has moved often, with addresses in at least five states over the past decade, including Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa and Florida. She used the last names of Yow, Cortez, Williams, Shackelford, Ellis, Scavone and Bruhn, among others, according to cross-referenced public records and interviews.

Yow also has an extensive criminal record. Her legal trouble began in 1991 when she was arrested in Gretna and booked on warrants alleging two counts of forgery and parole violation, records show.

In 1995, she was arrested in Sanford, Fla., and charged as a felon fleeing from justice, and extradited to Arkansas, where she was wanted, according to police records.

A year later in Seminole County, Fla., sheriffs booked her on three counts of fraudulent use of credit cards. She was convicted and ordered to serve probation, but violated that sentence years later and was rearrested in 2001 in Longwood, Fla. Records show she served a jail sentence.

Yow was arrested in October 1997 in Orleans Parish and charged with theft over $500, according to court records. A handwriting specimen was scheduled and Yow failed to appear for a subsequent hearing. The case was dropped in 1998 under article 701.

Available records do not indicate Yow has been arrested for prostitution.

Cortez identified a photo of the woman who adopted his name and described the location of the Mid-City brothel where he said he'd been to pick her up when she worked there. A family member also confirmed the photo. Meier, the madam, said the photo was not the woman she knew as Wendy Cortez.

Tait Cortez has since married, burned photos of his former lover, and forgotten about her, he said, although he still feels deceived.

''She acts like she loves you, but in the end, she is just taking money from you,'' he said.