News
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Senior Denies Prostitution Charge
A 71-year-old Westport woman arrested on prostitution charges has applied for a special form of probation and said she never offered to perform a sex act.
Sygun Liebhart appeared in Manchester Superior Court Wednesday and was told to return on April 2 to learn whether she is accepted into the accelerated rehabilitation program under which the charges would be dropped, the Hartford Courant reported.
Liebhart was arrested at her Glastonbury hotel room on Jan. 25 after police said she placed an ad in the “escort section” of the website Backpage.com and made a deal to perform sexual acts at the hotel. (See WestportNow Jan. 28, 2013)
The Courant reported in an interview with Liebhart and her lawyer, Tony Anthony, after her court appearance, Liebhart said she “sporadically” accepts money to be a companion, but no sex is involved.
Liebhart said she accepted money that night from a man who turned out to be an undercover officer to go out to dinner. She said there was no agreement to have sex, the newspaper said.
When she heard what the officer had quoted her as saying, Liebhart said, “I was dumbfounded.”
“I never uttered any of those words,” she said.
She said she cannot get a more traditional job because of her age and a health problem, which she declined to describe in detail, the newspaper said.
Liebhart said she moved from Westport to Manhattan to stay with friends because of the publicity generated by the case, the Courant said.
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Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport