WARREN, Maine — A 44-year-old Warren man who has been in jail since June after being accused of assaulting his wife was charged Thursday with promotion of prostitution. Police say he made hundreds of phone calls from jail to his wife encouraging her to have sex with other men and demanding half the money she earned.

After an undercover sting operation, Wendy Moody, 37, was arrested and charged Thursday with engaging in prostitution, possessing a usable amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, cultivating marijuana and violating a condition of release, according to Knox County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Tim Carroll.





She later was released on $400 cash bail.

Her husband, Curtis Moody, 44, also was charged Thursday at the jail with conspiracy relating to his wife’s alleged prostitution, the chief deputy said.

An affidavit filed by the sheriff’s office in Rockland District Court stated that the district attorney’s office became concerned that Curtis Moody was having contact with his wife. He is prohibited from contact with her after his arrest June 14 on a domestic violence assault charge. The couple used another name for her during jailhouse phone conversations.

The wife would not cooperate with investigators when they looked into his alleged violation of the no-contact provision, according to the affidavit.

The Knox County Jail then intercepted a letter on July 30 from Wendy Moody to her husband which outlined a website she was using to offer sex for money. Subsequent phone calls detailed the acts she allegedly was performing and how much money the men were paying. The payments ranged from $80 to $200. In the calls, he warned her that she had to give him half of all the money she received, according to the affidavit.

Many of the transactions occurred out of their Camden Street home, according to police.

The sheriff’s office contacted Wendy Moody by email using a fake name and set up a meeting with her. She was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Yankee Traveler Motel on Route 1 in Warren after she allegedly offered her services to an undercover deputy.

The investigation is continuing and may result in others being charged, Carroll said.

The Moodys’ residence was searched Thursday after she was arrested and marijuana was found. The drug charges were added at that point.

Evidence, mostly electronic communication devices, was seized to corroborate the alleged prostitution activity, Carroll said.

A police affidavit from Curtis Moody’s arrest in June included statements from his wife that he grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her because he suspected she was having sex with another man. Wendy Moody said she feared for her life and that of her children, according to the affidavit.