And speaking of Craigslist...
I'm sure most have seen this story, but wouldn't a $$$$ BJ be a good reason to get busted...?
- cut & paste from Channel 8's website - :
By now, just about everyone knows CraigsList as the nation's number one site for Internet classifieds. Millions use it to find everything from real estate to romance. Even the world's oldest profession has cornered the high-tech marketplace.
Listed among the lawn mowers and apartment listings lurk ads like "voluptuous female with toys..." and "unbelievable hump day rates."
CraigsList hosts an erotic services section, politically correct-sounding way to post sex for sale. The free ads are a marketing coup for prostitutes and another place for police to patrol.
Warming the porcelain in a Strip hotel, accused prostitutes wait for transport to less luxurious accommodations. While in the room next door, an undercover vice officer waits for "Star," a 22-year-old who promises to be "your personal sex kitten." Photos that are too pornographic for TV expose exactly what's for sale.
It seems the online outcall industry has "Star" over-committed, so she sends "Cat" instead, and her apologies. Now a free agent, "Cat" negotiates $350 for oral sex. Metro Detective Jeff Gentry pays $400.
On this night alone, Metro Vice makes more than a dozen arrests -- all from postings on CraigsList.
Metro Vice Detective Vic Vigna said, "It's like shooting fish in a barrel. There's thousands of ads and every hour there's a new ad."
The site's x-rated underbelly lurks in the services/erotic category. The company explains it created the category to keep escort ads out of the mainstream personals sections.
Though it acknowledges the prostitution problem, it points out CraigsList postings are no different than ads found in newspapers, alternative weeklies, and even the phone book.
But CraigsList doesn't profit from the posts. They're free.
Det. Vigna continued, "I think it's strictly for people to place ads for prostitution. They don't hide it. They put the fee for what sex act and what they will do and won't do. So it's not a secret what they're advertising."
Transsexual Tina, who uses a last name that rhymes with rocks, surprisingly is more discreet than most. "I put well groomed guys that have time and money and my phone number. And the lucky officer was the first one to call and got me."
CraigsList puts ads like Tina's behind a warning screen and allows users to flag inappropriate material.
"If it's not right, they'll take you down, but you can post right back up under a different name and account, same pictures, same ad everything," Tina explained.
It seems Tina isn't the only one who knows that trick.
The I-Team found "Star" listed in posting after posting, all under different headings. But it's job security for Metro Vice.
Vice Det. Vigna said, "99-percent [of the time] we'll see the same people next week and we'll send another undercover in to target them again."
CraigsList says it has no plans to remove the erotic section.
And it seems the prostitutes have figured out one more way to make use of it. Search under key words like vice, cops or busted and you'll find warnings about ongoing law enforcement operations.