LOUISVILLE, KY – Police took John W. Riddle, 65, into custody after seeing him in a car at 17th and Rowan streets with a “known prostitute,” according to the arrest report.

Riddle, of Clay Avenue in Okolona, is a vice chairman of the anti-pornography organization COMPASS. The organization, whose full name is Citizens of Metro for Property and Safety and Security, has been trying to stop adult bookstores and sex shops from opening near residential neighborhoods.

Riddle resigned his post yesterday, “and we have accepted,” said Barbara Davis, another vice chairman of the group.

Police said that Riddle and Mary M. Perry, 42, were each charged with one count of prostitution after they told officers that Riddle had picked her up to have sex for money.

Riddle had a bottle of Viagra in his possession, according to the police report.

Riddle did not reply to a telephone message last night.

His arrest “shocked me to the core,” said Davis, a former Jefferson County commissioner who lives in the Okolona area. She said Riddle has long been active in church and community affairs.

“I’ve known Mr. Riddle for a long time, and this is the last thing that we would have expected to happen,” Davis said, adding that if the allegations prove true, “it just goes to show that even good men … can get pulled into this pornography stuff.”

COMPASS was formed about a year ago in reaction to the opening of adult businesses on Preston and Dixie highways. The group has been lobbying elected officials to keep such businesses away from residential neighborhoods and businesses that cater to children and families.