The managing editor of a north Georgia newspaper was fired after being arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute at a Canton hotel, his newspaper, the Cherokee Tribune, reported Friday on its website.
Canton police arrested Brandon Wilson early Thursday, along with an alleged prostitute and alleged pimp, the newspaper said. Efforts by the AJC to contact the newspaper for comment were being made Friday afternoon.
Wilson, 33, who was named managing editor last year, was released after posting a $680 bond later Thursday, the newspaper reported. It said that if convicted of the charge against him, Wilson faces a possible $1,000 fine or a year in jail, or both.
Also taken into custody were Sonya Lynn Strobel, 25, of Independence, Mo., who was charged with prostitution, and Erik LeShaun Jackson, 29, of Long Beach, Calif., who was charged with pimping.
The Tribune said the three were arrested at 11:20 p.m. Wednesday at a Days Inn on Juniper Street in Canton.
Wilson told police he met Strobel at a bar, and Strobel said Wilson paid her $200 to perform oral sex, according to the Tribune, citing a police report. Wilson, who is married, later admitted he had been “lonely” and had met Strobel on a website, the police report said.
The Tribune said Wilson, a former assistant news editor at the Marietta Daily Journal, was fired Thursday. Brian Clark was named acting editor. Clark is managing editor of Neighbor Newspapers, which publishes 22 metro Atlanta weeklies.
The Cherokee Tribune, Marietta Daily Journal and Neighbor Newspapers are owned by Times-Journal Inc.
Marietta Daily Journal Managing Editor Billy Mitchell, identified as Wilson’s supervisor, was quoted as saying, “We feel sorrow for Wilson, the Tribune staff and the newspaper. However, we expect all of our employees to live up to high ethical and professional standards.”
Mitchell also apologized to the Canton community.
Wilson replaced Barbara P. Jacoby as managing editor last May.
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