In more than a decade of academic work, Brandy M. Britton earned a doctorate in sociology from the University of California at San Francisco, established an expertise in women's studies and founded the Institute for Women and Girls Health Research out of her Ellicott City home.
Howard County police allege that she also ran another business from her tidy beige house: a prostitution service with hourly rates of $300 and up.
The former University of Maryland, Baltimore County assistant professor of sociology and anthropology was charged this week with four counts of prostitution. The arrest stemmed from an undercover bust prompted by complaints about the explicit Web site on which police say she advertised escort services under the name of Alexis.
Britton, 41, could not be reached yesterday via e-mail, phone or at her home in the 10200 block of Shirley Meadow Court. On the Web site that police allege she used to solicit business, she says she receives money for modeling and companionship - not for prostitution.
She was released on her own recognizance Tuesday, according to a Howard County court commissioner.
The Web site that drew the attention of police advertises her home as a "discreet, upscale location in Howard County" offering evening and full-day appointments for up to $2,500. It describes Alexis as "sophisticated, refined, educated and articulate," with undergraduate degrees in biology, sociology and "a Ph.D. from an elite university."
Her arrest Tuesday came after an undercover Howard County police officer scheduled an appointment with her. According to charging documents, she led the lieutenant to an upstairs bedroom, told him to undress and leave $400 on the table by the door. He then left the room and let in vice and narcotics officers.
Police confiscated numerous business records in Britton's name. Police refused to give details of the those records, including whether they listed clients' names.
"She was brazen, but you would have to be looking for her site," said Pfc. Brandon Justice, a spokesman for Howard County police. "When a person uses mass communication, it increases the likelihood that police are going to be tipped off."
Police said they charged her with "engaging in prostitution, maintaining a building for the purpose of prostitution, allowing a building to be used for prostitution, and allowing a person into a building for the purpose of prostitution."
Britton lives on a quiet, cul-de-sac where children played on skateboards yesterday afternoon. The neat yards in the tree-lined suburban community off Centennial Lane surround homes that feature brick, siding and large windows. Late in the afternoon, a woman inside Britton's two-story, brown and beige home shouted from behind a screened front door for reporters to get away.
Several neighbors recalled heavy traffic around Britton's driveway. Susan Lennon described traffic coming to and from Britton's house as "suspicious." Another neighbor, Bonnie Sorak, called her "eccentric."
In 1999, Britton lost her job at UMBC and filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the university. In dismissing the suit, which is on appeal, a federal judge in Baltimore cited complaints about Britton from UMBC students and colleagues, and an accusation by the National Institutes of Health that Britton falsified data on a federally funded research project.
After losing her job, Britton directed the Institute for Women and Girls Health Research Inc., under her home address and one on St. Paul Street in Baltimore, according to Web sites. Britton also participated in meetings of a committee of the Maryland Drug Treatment Task Force, chaired by then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.
In 2002, Britton, who has two adult children, filed for bankruptcy. And from 2001 to 2003, during a bitter divorce, Britton was in and out of court, repeatedly accusing her second husband of choking her, slamming her against walls and floors, and slicing her throat with glass, according to court records.
A former colleague, Marsha Rosenbaum, the director of the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance, worked with Britton a dozen years ago in a collaboration that turned sour.
"She really, really turned my life upside down for about two years," said Rosenbaum, who worked with her at the Institute for Scientific Analysis on a methadone maintenance study. "She wreaked havoc around here."
Mike Lurie, a spokesman for UMBC, said that the university's general counsel could not comment on Britton's lawsuit against the school. Lurie did confirm Britton's employment as an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology from 1994 to 1999.
Howard County police began investigating Britton in March 2005 after receiving "numerous" complaints and then finding "her services and rates" posted online, according to charging documents.
