COLUMBIA, MD -- Police have charged nearly a dozen men with soliciting prostitution as the result of a sting conducted this week at a hotel in Columbia. The arrests came after undercover officers posted an ad on Backpage, a website often used in the sex business.

Men who called the number listed in the ad were connected to an undercover female officer who provided a meeting location.

Police said the men were arrested after they arrived at the hotel in the 5400 block of Twin Knolls Road in Columbia and offered money for sex.