Sheriff Goes After Craigslist's 'Erotic' Section

By Tom Dunlap

Many years ago, David Letterman said (and I'm paraphrasing): One good thing about a recession is the hookers get better looking.

I thought of that line when I read today about Craigslist and whether its erotic section is really a big old Mustang Ranch. That's what the sheriff of Chicago's Cook County is contending. Sheriff Tom Dark on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist, accusing the popular Internet classified service of being one of the largest sources of prostitution in the country.

I use Craigslist all the time, but I've never been to the erotic section. I swear! Even though I grew up in Carson City, Nev., and prostitution was legal just outside of town. Meanwhile, two reporters at CNET's News.com scored a great interview with Dart, as well as with a 35-year-old sex worker in San Francisco.

In an interview with CNET News, Dart said that the kind of sex services being advertised on Craigslist frequently involves minors as well as people forced into prostitution against their will. The federal lawsuit filed by Dart's office claims that Craigslist's erotic section is a powerful marketing tool for pimps and prostitutes and makes it easier for criminals to elude police.

"This (lawsuit) was my act of last resort," Dart said. "We're seeing some outrageous stuff here that we hadn't seen before. Our people on the street have seen the volume increase. It's become much more complicated for us. We can debate the whole 'Pretty Woman' thing. If a woman decides that this is a viable choice for employment, but that isn't the ones we're focused on."

He detailed how women were performing sex acts while their children were unattended in the next room. Dart described the many juveniles arrested when police followed up on suspicious Craigslist ads.

... A Craigslist spokeswoman said Thursday that criminal acts are rare at the site compared with the overwhelming amount of legal activity. She added that Craigslist helps law enforcement track down criminals every day.

In this current economic climate, people are trying to cope in lots of different ways. My friend is a therapist. Her business has recently exploded. It makes sense that the stress and the growing unemployment rate would lead to an uptick in the world's oldest profession, or at least in legal, beyond repute romantic hook-ups. Let's just hope Craigslist can find a way to weed out those breaking the law.