From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, December 14, 1972, comes a story of sodomy and prostitution at the Tremont Cafe, Tremont, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The arrest of the cafe owner and one of his employees is followed through news articles describing the arrest, conviction and sentencing of the individuals involved.
Tremont Cafe Raided
Sodomy, Prostitution Charged Along With Disorderly House
Complaints of townspeople about the Tremont Cafe, some as long as six months ago, resulted in a raid on Friday, December 8 [1972], about 1:30 a. m.
A team of Schuylkill Haven State Police led by Trooper Stanley Leganza of the state vice squad in Reading followed through on the week-long investigation involving three undercover men from the Harrisburg Regimental Headquarters.
According to police reports, Donald Batz of Pine Grove R. D., owner of the cafe will be charged with conducting an disorderly house.
A “go-go” dancer, Mrs. Linda Balthaser, 25, of Newmanstown, was arrested on charges of solicitation of sodomy, sodomy, prostitution and assignation; she was charged before District Justice Lester Reber in Orwigsburg and released on $5,000 bail posted by Batz.
Leganza said the state police will confer with District Attorney Richard Russell concerning further charges against both Batz and Mrs. Balthaser.
According to reports, in a visit to the bar the night before the raid, the undercover agents allegedly observed Mrs. Balthaser committing illegal acts in the bar and soliciting one of the agents.
In the raid on Friday morning the three undercover agents, Troopers Leganza and John Barrett drifted into the cafe about midnight, while uniformed police stood by outside of Tremont, waiting for a prearranged signal to start the raid. They were armed with search and arrest warrants.
The police reported that Mrs. Balthaser was dressed only in panties and shoes when the agents entered the cafe and that later she danced naked on the bar.
It was at 1:30 a. m. when Leganza, pretending to go to the men’s room, signaled the waiting uniformed police, as undercover agents sealed off exits and arrested Batz and the woman.
Following their arrest, Mrs. Balthaser said she is a divorced woman with one child, that she began working as a “go-go” dancer two weeks earlier, was paid $32 for dancing four hours each night.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, December 21, 1972:
SET JANUARY 11 FOR HEARING ON VICE CHARGES
Donald Batz, operator of Tremont Cafe, was charged with pandering, a felony, and operating a disorderly house, a misdemeanor, in connection with the vice raid Friday morning, December 8 [1972], at the Tremont Cafe. Charges were filed by State Trooper Stanley Leganza before district Magistrate Lester Reber, Orwigsburg.
According to Reber, Batz posted $5,000 bail on the felony and $500 on the misdemeanor charges, and was released pending a hearing to be held in Reber’s office on January 11 [1973] at 3 p.m.
Mrs. Linda Balthaser of Newmanstown, previously charged with prostitution and assignation, solicitation to commit sodomy and sodomy in connection with the same raid was also ordered to appear at the hearing.
Newest development in the case is a report that Paul Fenstermacher, an enforcement officer of the Liquor Control Board, is conducting an investigation on the operation of the cafe.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, February 1, 1973:
GO-GO DANCER’S HEARING DELAYED
The hearing for Mrs. Linda Balthaser of Newmanstown was postponed until Wednesday, February 7 [1973], at the request of the state. The 25-year-old divorcee was arrested on moral charges by the State Police following a raid on December 8 on the Tremont Cafe, where she was employed as a go-go dancer.
The request for the extension was allegedly made because state witnesses were required to testify in another matter in Pittsburgh. The hearing had been previously rescheduled from January 11 to January 23 to give Mrs. Balthaser additional time to obtain counsel.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, February 15, 1973:
GO-GO DANCER WAIVES HEARING
Mrs. Linda Balthaser who was arrested in a raid on the Tremont Cafe last December appeared before District Magistrate Lester Reber in Orwigsburg and waived a hearing on a variety of morals charges. Two previous hearings were continued to give her an opportunity to obtain counsel, but she appeared at the last hearing without an attorney.
The 25-year old divorcee go-go dancer was arrested on charges of sodomy, solicitation to commit sodomy and prostitution. According to Reber, once a hearing is waived the case goes directly to the grand jury.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, September 13, 1973:
GO-GO DANCER PLEADS GUILTY TO SODOMY CHARGE
Linda Louise Balthaser, 26, of Frackville, formerly of Newmanstown, entered pleas of guilty to charges of sodomy and solicitation to commit sodomy before Judge John W. Walesky in Schuylkill County Court.
Ms. Balthaser, a go-go dancer, who was arrested last December in a raid on the Tremont Cafe for participating in lewd and improper entertainment, was scheduled for trial on various charges during the September term of criminal court.
A charge of prostitution and assignation against her was not prossed on the motion of District Attorned Richard Russell. Donald Batz, Pine Grove R. D., operator of the cafe, is also slated to face trial on charges stemming from the December raid.
Linda Balthaser could be sentenced to serve 10 years in prison on the sodomy charge and five years on the solicitation charge. Sentencing has been postponed until a pre-sentence investigation can be conducted.
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From the Pine Grove Press-Herald, April 4, 1974:
BATZ FINED $500 AFTER GUILTY PLEA ON THREE CHARGES
Donald Batz of Pine Grove RD, former operator of Tremont Cafe which was closed for one year as a public nuisance, was sentenced to pay $500 in fines plus court costs on charges arising from a raid on said cafe in 1972 and subsequent investigation. The sentence was handed down by Judge John J. Walesky and a plea-bargaining arrangement between Batz and the District Attorney’s office for Batz to plead guilty to three counts of permitting lewd, immoral and improper entertainment on his premises in return for not processing nine related charges was accepted.
Judge Walesky also allowed a request from Batz through his attorney, Bernard Sheeler, to pay the fines over a three-month period. Sheeler said Batz is unemployed presently, following an accident last summer while he was employed as a miner and workmen’s compensation case is pending.
Linda Balthaser of Frackville, another defendant in the Tremont Cafe raid, is to be sentenced next week. She pleaded guilty to charges of sodomy and solicitation to commit sodomy. A charge of prostitution and assignation against her was not prossed. She could receive ten years in prison one the sodomy charge and five years on the solicitation charge.
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From the Pine Grove Press Herald, April 11, 1974:
GO-GO GIRL GIVEN SENTENCE AND PUT ON PROBATION
Linda Louise Balthaser, 26, of Frackville, arrested at the Tremont Cafe in 1972 on charges of sodomy, solicitation to commit sodomy and prostitution and assignation, was sentenced Monday on two of the charges. She pleaded guilty in September to the two sodomy charges. The prostitution and assignation charges were nolle-prossed.
Judge John Walesky sentenced her to two concurrent terms of 11 1/2 months to 23 months in prison, then suspended the sentence immediately and put her on probation for 11 1/2 to 23 months, with an order to pay the costs.
The operator of the cafe, where the woman was arrested, was Donald Batz. He was fined $500 and costs last week, on charges of permitting lewd, immoral and improper entertainment on his premises.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
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