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| Coastside Catholic Worker director charged with solicitation By Clay Lambert Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 9:18 AM PDT The director of Coastside Catholic Worker, a Half Moon Bay-based charitable organization, was formally charged with one count of solicitation of an act of prostitution Tuesday in the San Mateo County courthouse. Michael David Niece, 65, pleaded not guilty to the charge through his attorney, William Johnston. Niece was cited and released from custody on Aug. 14. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning. Niece is accused of offering a 35-year-old Half Moon Bay woman $500 in exchange for sex. Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the woman came to Niece seeking help in finding a job and had been a previous client of the organization Niece runs with his wife. "His response was that he would help her and pay her if she had sex with him in a van," Wagstaffe said. The woman reportedly told police, who then arranged for the woman to call Niece in a taped conversation. Wagstaffe said authorities have Niece offering money for sex on tape and that police caught him in a sting after the woman arranged a meeting with him. Niece's only previous court appearance in San Mateo County was a trespassing charge in San Mateo in 1997. That charge was later dismissed. He is due to appear in court on Nov. 28 for a pretrial conference and a jury trial is set for Feb. 19. |