Miami Herald reporter Oscar Corral was deceitful and lied to police when arrested on August 4, 2007, according to the information he gave in his Miami Police arrest affidavit No. 070904-228070.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/corral/corral-arrested.jpg
When Corral was detained for “Solicitation to commit prostitution” on the corner of West Flagler Street and 50th Avenue, at 12:15 A.M., he deceptively told the authorities that his occupation is “content provider,” instead of newspaper reporter. In e-mails that I received from Mr. Corral on July 5, 2005 and January 16, 2006, he proudly signed off as “Oscar Corral, Reporter, The Miami Herald, 305-376-3455.” He has never identified himself in print as a “content provider” nor does that term appear in the Miami Herald to identify any of its reporters or editors.

The thirty-three-year-old Corral has been writing in the Miami Herald for years about Cuban issues. His parents, Oscar José Corral and María Caridad Parladé (the daughter of a Santiago de Cuba surgeon), are Cuban immigrants. His wife, Cecile Marie Betancourt, who he married on September 12, 1998, is a Cuban American, and they have two daughters. Corral’s blog in the Miami Herald is titled “Miami’s Cuban Connection/Oscar Corral examines the Cuban exile experience.” Yet, Corral lied about his ethnicity when queried by the arresting officer. The arrest affidavit shows that Corral purported that he is “Not Hispanic,” his ethnicity was left blank in the report, and he identified his race as white. In contrast, the teenage prostitute arrested in his car was more honest than the deceptive non-Hispanic “content provider.” The arrest affidavit for eighteen-year-old Yamilet López clearly shows that she identified herself as Hispanic, of Cuban ethnicity. She also truthfully listed her occupation as “unemployed.”
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/corral/corral-prostitute-arrested.jpg

Corral has been unable to convincingly explain why he stopped his car on a Friday at midnight, in an area notorious for prostitution, to invite a teenage stranger nearly half his age into his Acura. Corral’s arrest affidavit states that: “While performing a undercover Prostitution Detail, Officer Sola #27572 (under cover officer) witnessed the above Def[endant] and Co-Def[endant] sitting inside a Bl[ac]k Acura 4 D[oo]r bearing FL tag G77-HJK. The officer (Sola) overheard the Def[endant] and Co-Def[endant] negotiating the price of a blow-job (street slang for oral sex). Undercover officer Sola gave the take down signal, tactical units came in and placed all Def[endant]s into custody.”

The prostitute’s arrest affidavit provides further details by indicating that the haggled amount for oral sex was $50 and that López stated that “this is only the second time prostituting.” She admitted, “I only did it because I need to pay the rent.” A third co-defendant arrested was twenty-seven-year-old Orlando Padrón, identified in the arrest report as López’s pimp. He was changed with possession of brass nuckles and disorderly conduct.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/corral/corral-arrested-pimp.jpg

When the Miami Herald tersely reported this incident three days after it occured, they omitted many of the details, including the names of Corral’s prostitute and pimp co-defendants.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/corral/corral-prostitute.htm
On the other hand, when Republican Florida state Representative Bob Allen was likewise arrested for soliciting prostitution for oral sex, the Miami Herald published numerous articles, even mentioning in one that Allen is married and has a teenage daughter.
http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/222960.html
In contrast, the Miami Herald made no mention that Corral is married and has two daughters.

The Miami Herald, when reporting Corral’s arrest, also omitted stating that the area where he was detained has been plagued with problems of drugs, crime, and prostitution, according to a report of the Miami Police Department.
http://www.miami-police.org/Image/MiamiPD/CaseStudy/Flagami%20Counter-Prostitution%20Operation%20web.pdf
The “Flagami Counter-Prostitution Operation” that netted Corral was created “to deter the increased prostitution activity in their community.” Area residents complained to the police about “the impact on local traffic, criminal activity, their fear of crime and the reduced quality of life in their community as well as the adverse impact the prostitution activities had on their property values.” The police report also stated: “Additionally, the parishioners and priests of the community church along with the students, teachers and parents of the elementary schools in the neighborhood were severely impacted. The spread of sexually transmitted diseases normally associated with wide-spread prostitution affected the entire community.”

The authorities completed a detailed analysis of the situation and among the goals of its enforcement program was to arrest the prostitutes, pimps, and “johns.” Initially, twenty police operations resulted in the arrests of 76 prostitutes and 105 clients. The report also points out that “the Miami Herald published an article highlighting the counter-prostitution operations.” Corral apparently did not read the article before being arrested.

Cuban American blogs and radio commentators continue to speculate as to why Corral has not returned to work since his arrest a month ago.
http://heraldwatch.blogspot.com/2007/09/marti-moonlighters-1-year-later.html
Many predict that his ordeal will probably end like Senator Larry Craig’s scandal, with a guilty plea to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. There are also questions as to whether Corral will continue being a “content provider” for the Miami Herald due to his unethical conduct, deception toward the authorities, and shattered credibility. He may end up doing penance at the copy desk of the Miami Herald Bureau in Broward County.