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Friend of Obama Is Arrested in Prostitution Sting

samsung1

Ohio

A longtime friend and golfing partner of President Obama's, Robert Titcomb, was arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution after being swept up in an undercover operation in downtown Honolulu on Monday night, police officials said. Mr. Titcomb, 49, is accused of approaching an officer who was posing as a prostitute.

Mr. Titcomb and Mr. Obama have been friends since childhood, when they were students at the Punahou School. The two men have often been photographed playing golf together. Mr. Titcomb holds an annual barbecue at his beachfront home on the North Shore of Oahu when the president vacations there. In December, Mr. Obama spent the day at Mr. Titcomb's house and played golf with him at the Mid Pacific Country Club in Kailua.

In 2008, Mr. Titcomb accompanied Mr. Obama to the spot on Oahu's southern shore where Mr. Obama had scattered his mother's ashes.

The solicitation charge carries a $500 fine and up to 30 days in jail or probation. Three other men were also arrested in the operation, according to a statement by the Honolulu Police Department.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/us/08p…