Meet Rochester's only professional escort

By JEFFREY PIETERS, Post-Bulletin

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — Rochester's first and only licensed professional escort is a 6-foot-5, bearded, 37-year-old man with a wife of 10 years and two elementary school-age children.

Not the image that leaps to mind when you think "professional escort"? That's just fine with Bryan Bachman, who counts himself foremost among those who find it amusing he's Rochester's Escort No. 1.

The city started its escort licensing program 20 years ago, but it has never had an applicant before Bachman.

"It actually started out as a joke between my wife and I," Bachman said of his decision to apply for the license earlier this year.

He'd read about the licensing program in the Post-Bulletin's "Answer Man" column. Professional escorting sounded like a natural companion to Bachman's catering business, Catering For All It's Worth.

"I found out nobody had ever applied for it, and so I went in (to City Hall)," he said.

At first, his application seemed to catch city officials off-guard. But Bachman carried it through, paying a $75 registration fee, submitting to a criminal background check and giving fingerprints, and finally, appearing before the city council to explain himself and what he wanted to do.

"That was a little intimidating," he said.

Since receiving his license in May, Bachman has had two customers.

One, a recently divorced woman, "doesn't want a relationship with anybody; she just wants to go out," he said. "We can go to dinner, we can go to a movie, or just go out for a walk."

His other customer, also recently divorced, is a man. Bachman is "just kind of a wingman" for him as they go bar-hopping.

Bachman doesn't drink - and hasn't since 1998, when he moved to Rochester for treatment for alcoholism.

There's no sex involved in his business, either. It's prohibited under the city ordinance, and a service agreement Bachman has his customers sign before a date specifically states that "I'm not a sexual service provider, period," he said. "At the end of the night, we say good night, shake hands and we're done."

His target market is the new city resident, the recently divorced person, the visitor, or the individual or group who want a sober driver who knows the ins and outs of the city.

He charges $100 an hour, with a three-hour minimum purchase. Expenses, such as dinner or movie tickets, are paid from Bachman's pocket.

"Some of my good friends are like, `You should have done this earlier, out of college,"' he said. "I'm social. I know a lot of people in Rochester."

His license is good through Dec. 31. Depending how the business is going and how he feels about it, he'll either continue it or just say, "It was fun for a year," he said. "I'll just melt into the background."

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Information from: Post-Bulletin

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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