ChefDog
09-26-07, 10:48
Below is a story from yesterday's Times-Picayune about a JP bust of some girls using CL.
If you check around on this list in other areas you'll find other instances of the same sort of busts. Cops today more and more work with templates that they learn at conferences sponsored (often) by the Feds.
I haven't used CL for any contacts for more than a year and don't plan to.
Chef
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Sisters arrested in online prostitution
Posted by The Times-Picayune September 25, 2007 6:53PM
By Michelle Hunter
East Jefferson bureau
Authorities arrested a pair of sisters on sex charges in River Ridge after an undercover officer caught them peddling their wares online at Craigslist.org.
Sgt. William Hare of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office vice squad said he set up a date with Melissa Williams, 31, of Slidell, known as "Amber" on the popular classified advertising web site, after receiving an anonymous complaint that she and Amanda Williams, 27, "were working the River Ridge area on Craigslist."
Hare met Melissa Williams on Monday at her sister's apartment at 112 Mark Twain Drive, River Ridge. He said she solicited him for sex in exchange for $200, so he booked her with prostitution. Because Amanda Williams was present and offered one of her bedrooms, she was booked with letting premises for prostitution, Hare said. Both remained in jail Tuesday afternoon.
Amanda Williams
Melissa Williams
Since 1995, Craigslist.org has provided an online forum for Internet users to post regionalized advertisements for jobs, apartments, merchandise and other services. The site divides the ads by country, state and city, letting users search for goods specifically in the New Orleans area.
But over the past few years, flesh peddlers have begun marketing themselves in the service listings. And law enforcement agencies across the country are starting to pay attention. In New Jersey, Illinois, Washington and Florida, police have conducted stings netting advertising prostitutes as well as customers seeking to purchase a little pleasure.
The Jefferson Sheriff's Office vice squad has made a handful of such arrests via Craigslist.org and other web sites, said the unit's commander, Capt. Tom Angelica. Investigators would make more, he said, but they've been busy helping the rest of the department tackle violent crime. That leaves little opportunity to address online prostitution, where Hare said the market is ripe.
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," Hare said.
The "erotic services" section of Cragslist.org's New Orleans page featured 34 advertisements Tuesday. Many of the posters say they are not New Orleans-area residents but would seem to be traveling prostitutes -- both male and female -- looking to line up customers for upcoming visits to the region. Some posters say they are tourists requesting services during their vacation to the area.
But advertising prostitution isn't a new concept, Angelica said. Before the spread of the Internet, prostitutes posted ads in local publications. In fact, the Sheriff's Office vice squad arrested Melissa Williams in 2004 after deputies answered an ad she had placed in a New Orleans alternative newspaper, Hare said. Williams pleaded guilty to prostitution and was given a suspended six-month sentence, according to court records.
The Internet has revolutionized the sex trade, however, Angelica said. Instead of prostitutes selling themselves for minimum sums to score drugs or a place to stay, investigators are finding nurses, teachers and sometimes business people looking to make extra money discreetly, he said.
"Sex is out there for sale, and nobody worries about it," Hare said. "They think they can do whatever they want."
If you check around on this list in other areas you'll find other instances of the same sort of busts. Cops today more and more work with templates that they learn at conferences sponsored (often) by the Feds.
I haven't used CL for any contacts for more than a year and don't plan to.
Chef
*******************************************
Sisters arrested in online prostitution
Posted by The Times-Picayune September 25, 2007 6:53PM
By Michelle Hunter
East Jefferson bureau
Authorities arrested a pair of sisters on sex charges in River Ridge after an undercover officer caught them peddling their wares online at Craigslist.org.
Sgt. William Hare of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office vice squad said he set up a date with Melissa Williams, 31, of Slidell, known as "Amber" on the popular classified advertising web site, after receiving an anonymous complaint that she and Amanda Williams, 27, "were working the River Ridge area on Craigslist."
Hare met Melissa Williams on Monday at her sister's apartment at 112 Mark Twain Drive, River Ridge. He said she solicited him for sex in exchange for $200, so he booked her with prostitution. Because Amanda Williams was present and offered one of her bedrooms, she was booked with letting premises for prostitution, Hare said. Both remained in jail Tuesday afternoon.
Amanda Williams
Melissa Williams
Since 1995, Craigslist.org has provided an online forum for Internet users to post regionalized advertisements for jobs, apartments, merchandise and other services. The site divides the ads by country, state and city, letting users search for goods specifically in the New Orleans area.
But over the past few years, flesh peddlers have begun marketing themselves in the service listings. And law enforcement agencies across the country are starting to pay attention. In New Jersey, Illinois, Washington and Florida, police have conducted stings netting advertising prostitutes as well as customers seeking to purchase a little pleasure.
The Jefferson Sheriff's Office vice squad has made a handful of such arrests via Craigslist.org and other web sites, said the unit's commander, Capt. Tom Angelica. Investigators would make more, he said, but they've been busy helping the rest of the department tackle violent crime. That leaves little opportunity to address online prostitution, where Hare said the market is ripe.
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel," Hare said.
The "erotic services" section of Cragslist.org's New Orleans page featured 34 advertisements Tuesday. Many of the posters say they are not New Orleans-area residents but would seem to be traveling prostitutes -- both male and female -- looking to line up customers for upcoming visits to the region. Some posters say they are tourists requesting services during their vacation to the area.
But advertising prostitution isn't a new concept, Angelica said. Before the spread of the Internet, prostitutes posted ads in local publications. In fact, the Sheriff's Office vice squad arrested Melissa Williams in 2004 after deputies answered an ad she had placed in a New Orleans alternative newspaper, Hare said. Williams pleaded guilty to prostitution and was given a suspended six-month sentence, according to court records.
The Internet has revolutionized the sex trade, however, Angelica said. Instead of prostitutes selling themselves for minimum sums to score drugs or a place to stay, investigators are finding nurses, teachers and sometimes business people looking to make extra money discreetly, he said.
"Sex is out there for sale, and nobody worries about it," Hare said. "They think they can do whatever they want."