http://www.lohud.com/article/20100302/NEWS02/3020340/Prostitution-suspect-a-longtime-Chappaqua-resident-mother-of-4CHAPPAQUA — Melinda "Mindy" Brennan, arrested by an undercover detective after being accused of advertising on Craigslist to have sex for money with "upscale men," is a longtime hamlet resident and a recently divorced mother of four.
A registered nurse, Brennan, 46, got divorced in April and had been living for the past 18 months in the Quaker Street rental house where she was arrested.
The circa 1820 house in the heart of the hamlet belongs to the owner of Music in Chappaqua, a very well-known private music school.
Janet Angier, the owner of the house and the school, said she had no idea what her tenant, Brennan, was up to and has moved to evict her. Angier does not live on the property.
Brennan was contacted through Craigslist by an undercover New Castle police officer and she is accused of agreeing to meet and have sex for money, police said.
Detective James Wilson said the investigation began in early January after a tip "about weird things going on at the house."
"It is a very unusual case for Chappaqua," Wilson said. "During my 18 years here, I have never seen anything like this out of a house. It's sad."
Attempts to reach Brennan were unsuccessful and she does not have an attorney listed as representing her in New Castle Town Court. She is due back in court Thursday.
Meanwhile, Angier said she feels that she was taken advantage of while at the same time admitting she took Brennan on as a tenant without doing any background checks or requiring her to sign a lease.
"I feel like a victim in all this," said Angier, who was away in Canada when Brennan was arrested Feb. 19 and charged with prostitution, a misdemeanor.
"It's basically that I really wanted to help her, she needed it," she said. "I gave her breaks on rents and obligations and it hurt me."
Brennan, who was released on an appearance ticket, has lived in Chappaqua since at least 1994, when she bought a house with her husband, an attorney, on Old Mill Road for $295,000, according to property records.
"She has not lived with us for more than two years, and I am the custodial parent of the children," said her ex-husband Patrick Brennan. "That's her life and her situation."