Prostitutes go digital with craigslist
Police say prostitutes are hawking their services online.
Monday, September 3, 2007
By KIMBERLY EDDS
The Orange County Register
Dressed to kill in a black corset and sky-high stilettos that show off her legs, she calls you baby and promises to give you what you need. Hidden amid bland listings of Orange County apartment rentals, jobs, things for sale and services needed on craigslist.org, her ad promises "XXX YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT...." For a $200 "donation."
The world's oldest profession is going digital, according to law enforcement agencies, as prostitutes are increasingly turning to craigslist instead of the street to maximize profit and minimize the potential of being arrested. The trend, echoed across the country, has police trolling the virtual bulletin board, conducting prostitution stings in cyberspace instead of on the street corner.
From Costa Mesa to Anaheim, cities along the infamous Harbor Boulevard circuit have fought relentlessly against prostitutes and their customers. Now, police say, streetwalkers are trekking to Orange County from places like Seattle, Detroit and Tennessee not to stand on the street, but to post their pictures on craigslist next to garage sale listings and wait for the phone to ring and the money to roll in.
Craigslist's free classified ads are seen as a fast and easy way to connect with thousands of potential customers, outside of the watchful eye of police, said Sgt. Mike Ginther of the Costa Mesa Police Department. And with billions of page views a month, the reach is far greater than any throwaway newspaper.
"You're flying under the radar because it allows you to maintain anonymity and kind of skirt the police because you're not out on the street corner," Ginther said. "The new strip is the Internet and craigslist."
Founder Craig Newmark, who started craigslist in San Francisco in 1995, has called it a happy accident, aimed at making it easier for people to get everyday chores done. The free online-classifieds site has morphed into one of the world's most popular Web sites, getting 8 billion hits and serving more than 25 million users a month.
But there is another side to craigslist, one of prostitutes, pimps and people who post ads for rooms, hoping to get sex instead of cash for rent. From crystal methamphetamine to an hour with a dominatrix, every fantasy or fetish can be found and delivered to your doorstep in less time than it takes to get a pizza delivered – if you know the code.
"And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that is," said Lt. Mark Bailey, in charge of Special Investigations for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "You can get on this thing and you will be able to navigate craigslist in no time."
Craigslist prohibits ads that break the law, but its CEO, Jim Buckmaster, argues its staff of 19 can't police billions of postings. In keeping with its communal approach, site operators rely on users to flag ads they find offensive. If enough people agree, the ad is removed.
But craigslist does have subheadings for casual encounters and erotic services, where the lists are filled with pornographic images and ads for drugs and sex.
"Lookin for my girl Tina... She took off a while ago...Haven't seen Crystal either. Drop me a line if you have any clues!," reads one ad, posted by a 20-year-old man in Fountain Valley. Tina and Crystal are code for heroin and crystal meth, Ginther said.
Roses, kisses and other lingo are subbed for dollars in the explicit ads, an attempt by prostitutes, according to Bailey, to sidestep the law.
"People develop an idea that 'if I don't do certain things I won't get in trouble,' " Bailey said. "They can say kisses all they want, but there comes a point when it becomes I will pay you X for a certain type of service. And that's prostitution."
Local agencies regularly patrol craigslist, making deals and arresting prostitutes. Other agencies have co-opted the site, running their own seductive ads that promise sex in exchange for drugs. The undercover officer takes the drugs, and the deliveryman is arrested.
"We believe you have to go after it from both angles," Bailey said. "You can't just go after the girls; you have to go after the johns, too."
But with hundreds of new ads posted every day in Orange County alone, local vice operations say it is impossible to keep up.
Police caution that this kind of hook-up is more dangerous than the old-fashion curbside come on for both the customer and the professional.
"These are twisted, twisted people out there, and they are on these sites," Ginther said.
It was a blonde who showed up at the Hilton hotel in Costa Mesa last month. But instead of the busty "Melissa" he had ordered, police said, a craigslist user was greeted by Theoplus Miles, a 23-year-old Moreno Valley man, dressed to impress in women's evening wear and a blond wig. When the customer wouldn't seal the deal, Miles refused to leave, according to a Costa Mesa police report. Police chased him around the hotel, and paramedics had to cut him out of his outfit when he went into a panic. He was arrested.
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