At craigslist. And it turns out, under the site's "erotic services" heading, you can also solicit a prostitute. Tips from Craigslist users - as well as family and friends of women posting ads on the site - led the Pasco County Sheriff's Office to arrest four women Thursday. They are accused of advertising sexual services online. The Sheriff's Office focused on women who were specifically advertising their services in Pasco County, spokesman Doug Tobin said.
He said the Sheriff's Office arranged for the informant to meet the women at different times Thursday at the Comfort Inn, U. Tobin said he didn't know how long investigators had been working on the case or what the women's ads said. People saw things they didn't want going on in Pasco.
Law enforcement agencies around the country have started monitoring the ads on Craigslist to crack down on prostitution, according to the New York Times. Last July the sheriff of Cook County, Ill. Police in Seattle posted an ad in November that led to the arrests of 71 men. And an ad posted by Jacksonville police in August netted hundreds of hits and 33 arrests.
Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best did not return a phone call or e-mail for comment Friday. But the company's president, Jim Buckmaster, told the New York Times last year that its member staff cannot patrol the multitude of constantly changing listings - some million per month - and counts on viewers to flag objectionable ads, which are promptly removed. The Web site says users agree not to post, e-mail or make available content that is "pornographic or depicts a human being engaged in actual sexual conduct.
Nonetheless, Tobin said most of the tips in the Pasco sting were related to Craigslist ads. Some tips also pointed investigators toward the escort services site roccoescorts. While the ads of the arrested women were no longer available Friday on Craigslist, other ads in the "erotic services" category included photos of women, some posed provocatively or barely clothed, looking for Pasco hookups.
