craigslist sting watch out!
oh shit look at this. The next fucking wave. Vice Squad may have some extra time on their hands now that they have cleaned up Dodge [CT]. We need to stay on top of this. If anybody is using Craigslist make the reports. Anything seems fishy dont go.
Prostitution sting leads to 104 arrests
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Rented furnishings and hidden cameras were among the props Seattle police vice detectives used to arrest 104 men who showed up at a ritzy downtown condo in the past two weeks expecting to pay for sex.
Nearly three-fourths of the men who were arrested on suspicion of patronizing a prostitute responded to postings in the "erotic services" category on craigslist, the free online community where people can search for apartments, jobs, used cars, friends and dates. The rest answered escort ads found in the back pages of The Stranger and Seattle Weekly.
"We wanted to prove craigslist was in fact a vehicle for promoting prostitution," said Lt. Eric Sano, commander of the Seattle Police Department's vice unit.
Escorts and the agencies that represent them have long argued that clients pay only for the companionship of a beautiful woman, Sano said, "but for the most part, that's not how it works."
The vice unit launched its elaborate investigation after receiving numerous community complaints about prostitutes advertising on craigslist, Sano said.
To test the theory, undercover detectives arranged for escorts to meet them in a downtown hotel room on Oct. 19, Sano said. Detectives arrested seven women and a 16-year-old girl who made clear they expected payment for their sexual services, he said.
Vice detectives then turned their attention to men who, instead of cruising the streets for prostitutes, respond to online and newspaper ads looking for sex, he said. To make their ads believable, Sano said, female detectives were photographed in flirty poses, phone lines were established and appointments were set up.
Police discovered "a complete subculture" where men call themselves "hobbyists" and refer to the women they pay for sex as "providers," Sano said Wednesday, the last night of the undercover operation.
"They all know each other and have their own terminology," he said. There are even several online "review boards" where men rate their experiences and describe a woman's looks and the sex acts she's willing to perform, Sano said.
Craig Newmark, who founded craigslist in San Francisco in 1995, said he has heard that "prostitution is a significant problem" on the Web site and noted that craigslist has built a "top-notch" reputation for responding to complaints of illegal activity.
As for the local craigslist review board where men discuss the sexual exploits they paid for, Newmark said those who operate the site are improperly using the craigslist name and that legal action is being discussed by the Seattle-based law firm representing his site.
Craigslist, which is now available in some 300 cities worldwide, doesn't monitor what people post.
"We are a democracy ... and we find we can trust our community," he said. "I don't know what the situation is like in Seattle, but we would prefer that [police] go after violent criminals or crooked congressmen."
At one point, the Seattle police operation was exposed on the craigslist review board and "we had to quickly scramble to get new photos and phone numbers," Sano said. As they waited for men to call, "we cruised craigslist ourselves" and arrested 14 more women on suspicion of prostitution, he said.
"Every hobbyist knows the going rate is at least $150 an hour for 'full service' — which means intercourse and maybe a massage," he said, noting men also "negotiate for extra services," for instance paying an additional $50 to have sex without a condom.
The response was "absolutely wild," Sano said. Even after female detectives upped their price to $200 an hour as part of a Veterans Day special, "we almost had people triple-booked" for appointments, he said.
When a man arrived at the rented condo, he was greeted at the door and ushered inside, Sano said. As other detectives hid in a bedroom watching live footage from hidden cameras, the female detective, posing as "a provider," would engage in a conversation about sex and collect her fee, he said.
Once money had changed hands, Sano said, other officers would then walk out and arrest the man.
All but five of the men were interviewed, cited and released: One man, a registered sex offender, was booked into the King County Jail for violating conditions of his release, three others were booked on drug violations and another on a weapons charge, Sano said.
Arrestees have included "bank presidents, state employees, business owners, construction workers, physicians and surgeons," Sano said.
Though some may argue that prostitution and patronizing a prostitute — both misdemeanors — are victimless crimes, Sano doesn't see it that way: "No young girl grows up dreaming of doing this. These prostitutes are women who have had a rough life, whether they're addicted to drugs, or they've been abused or they have some pimp forcing them into it.
"It is easy money ... but these women are being exploited and it's degrading," he said. "You should hear what some of these guys have asked our detectives to do — it's disgusting."
Has anyone noticed the new trend?
It seems all of the ads on CL rates are rising. The average now seems to be 250 - 300 for an hour and 400 isn't that unusual to see now also. It used to be you could negociate with the women for the hourly rate. Now if you negociate thet cut the time they spend with you. That makes it even more expensive. A half hour is just enough time to say hello and get her cloths off...
I say boycott all of these providers. Pricing should be 150 for a whole hour and 120 if you have to spring for a room. Yes I know they allways say that they get more because they are better than all of the other women online.
LOL, How can everyone of them be better than the next? I am sticking to my max price line when calling. I also am intensifing my search for reasonablly priced local hotties....
Steel Blue
Smile! You're on Candid Camera (oh, and the web)
[url]http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/187228,CST-NWS-johns27.article[/url]
Cops say spa's hidden cameras may have broadcast sex acts over the Internet
December 27, 2006
BY ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporter
Patrons of a Northwest Side massage parlor may have had their visits with prostitutes broadcast over the Internet, police said.
Based on statements from a woman who worked there and the sophistication of computer equipment seized from V.I.P. Salon & Day Spa, police believe sex acts might have been transmitted from small, curtained cubicles onto the Web, said Jefferson Park District Cmdr. Ralph Price.
Officers found tiny cameras mounted in the ceiling of several rooms at V.I.P.
"It's gone beyond just prostitution," Price said. "What you think may be private could be all over the place."
Investigators with the Vice Control Section said they had not heard of any similar computer set-up at other places of prostitution in the city.
"Really, this is kind of unchartered territory for us," said Lt. Paul Kusinski.
Price said the V.I.P. Salon at 4422 N. Milwaukee -- where customers have to be buzzed in -- has been a longtime problem for the neighborhood.
Chicago vice officers have raided the business seven or eight times over the past 18 months, and the city has filed complaints against the business, police said. The landlord of the business also filed a lawsuit in January 2006 seeking to evict the business owner, according to Cook County records.
The owner could not be reached for comment.
Charges stemming from the police raids were typically never more than misdemeanors. But now Chicago Police and the Cook County state's attorney's office are seeking more serious charges against the owner and manager for the alleged unlawful videotaping.
Price -- who has done premise checks himself on the business because of complaints -- said he hopes this latest raid will rid the neighborhood of V.I.P. for good.
"Finally, we can shut this guy down," Price said. "This could be the nail in the coffin."
Price's officers got their break on Dec. 20 when someone placed a 911 call to report that a woman at the business was screaming.
When officers arrived, a sergeant pulled back a curtain on two cubicles to find men having sex with women. But officers then spotted something else -- a pinhole camera in the ceiling.
"We followed all the wires," Price said. "They all went to a central computer."
Real money online: female suspect
One of the women arrested told police they charged the men for sex acts, but the real money was made from the share of profits from broadcasting on the Internet, Price said.
The officers obtained a search warrant, which was executed the next morning, Price said. The computer's hard drive was seized and will be analyzed, and police photographed all the cameras and the wires leading to the server.
The raid resulted in four people being charged, including a 20-year-old man for patronizing a place of prostitution, two women -- 39 and 20 -- for solicitation and a 51-year-old man for keeping a place of prostitution.
