A sting operation conducted by Darien police resulted in five women being charged with prostitution Oct. 15, and a sixth charge is pending.

Working off of Craigslist earlier in the day, police arranged for women seeking sex in exchange for money to meet an undercover officer at an apartment in the 700 block of Walnut Street, said Detective Steve Reed.

When each suspect made an offer of sex for cash, an undercover team waiting in an adjoining bedroom moved in to make the arrests, Reed said.

Reed said the department has netted about 15 arrests for prostitution during the last year in Internet sting operations.

“This was one of our more successful operations because of all six women contacted that afternoon, all of them responded and came to the location,” Reed said. “It was a pretty good night for us.”

A sixth suspect could face charges, pending further investigation, Reed said.

The arrests were made between 6 and 8:45 p.m., police said.

“We set up the meetings at intervals, with about 30 minutes between each one,” Reed said.

Charged with prostitution are Michelle E. Butler, 38, Hobart, Ind.; Christine B. Schmidt, 36, Schaumburg; Angela D. Sanders, 34, Joliet; Kari D. Knox, Coloma, Mich.; and Michelle T. Brown, 30, Oak Forest.

All were processed and released with a date of Nov. 23 in DuPage County Circuit Court Wheaton.

Reed said sting operations are not conducted on a regular basis.

“It is one of the proactive things we do, but we don’t commit resources on a regular basis,” Reed said.

Investigators are careful to set up the sting operations in a controlled setting to protect officers, Reed said.

“We always set it up so the suspects are coming to a location we control, we don’t go out to meet them. It is a safety issue,” Reed said.

Once a suspect makes an offer for sex in exchange for money, the undercover officer negotiating the deal alerts the waiting undercover team via a pager, Reed said.

All suspects were arrested without incident, Reed said.