Colorado Springs police on Monday began a controversial program of publicizing the names and photos of those convicted of misdemeanor prostitution soliciting crimes — a tactic some call “john shaming.”

Proponents of such initiatives say they spread fear in perpetrators who had thought they could stay anonymous after an offense. Police say they hope to deter prostitution and human trafficking, but detractors say the programs could unjustly ruin lives.

“As in any crime, the chance of getting caught and exposed is a deterrent,” said Lt. Mark Comte, who oversees the police department’s human-trafficking unit formed last year. “Men don’t think they are going to be exposed.”

The six men profiled in a news release Monday were arrested in January — five during a single sting operation on Jan. 30 — and convicted of a misdemeanor prostitution soliciting charge, police said. They range in age from 26 to 50 years old and are from Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

“It’s a mistake that I made and I’m trying to put it behind me,” said Terry Talbot, 47, one of the men.

Talbot said he wasn’t told beforehand that his identity would be distributed to the media and found out when he saw his mug shot publicized Monday.

“Me and everyone else I know,” Talbot said.

Comte said his unit found research, including examples from other law agencies, showing the practice can reduce demand for prostitution and in turn supply. The hope, he said, is the program will discourage sex trafficking.

The practice has been adopted by a limited number of law enforcement agencies throughout the country, including in Orange County, Calif., where prosecutors have dedicated a Web page to post names and photos of “sex purchasers.” In Colorado, however, such initiatives are not widespread.

Police in Colorado Springs have decided to release only identities of suspects after they are convicted as opposed to after they are charged.

“The paradigm is shifting in prostitution,” Comte said. “It used to be thought that it’s a victimless crime.”

But recently, he said, police are finding that adult prostitutes are women who were trafficked as children, sometimes as young as 13 or 14 years old.

“We can’t process them quick enough when we do operations,” Comte said of the johns’ demand in Colorado Springs. “There is usually a waiting list for appointments (to solicit sex with an undercover officer).”

Denver defense attorney David Beller called the practice unproven and a “public scarlet letter.”

“The practice of john shaming is too new of a practice for there to be any reliable data or studies that establish its effectiveness,” Beller said. “The police department is branding an individual without regard to the collateral damage of the label. The john’s wife, children and employer may all be victims of the public ridicule intended for the perpetrator.”

The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, which recently formed a unit dedicated to battling human trafficking, has not adopted the practice. Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said the department had a similar program about a decade ago but has since discontinued it.

Michael Ramos, district attorney in San Bernardino County, Calif., launched a “Stop the John Project” on its website in April 2013 to battle sex trafficking. Since the program’s inception, he says, they have identified about 70 people convicted of prostitution-related crimes and had 100,000 hits on their website.

“It works. It absolutely works,” Ramos said, adding that authorities in his jurisdiction have recorded a 60 percent decline in demand. “We should have this program across the (country).”

Many activists, however, think more studies should be done.

“It is controversial,” said Amanda Finger, executive director of the Denver-based Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking.

Finger said the broad success of similar efforts across the country has been difficult to measure, adding that there are reports showing the practice isn’t effective and others that say it is.

“It’s a wide net I think they are hoping will impact human trafficking, but I think the jury is still out if it will impact sex trafficking,” Finger said.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul