Kristin Davis
The Virginian-Pilot
©
SUFFOLK
Using Craigslist as a directory and a phony bachelor pad as the setting, Suffolk police staged a sting operation that resulted in three women being charged with prostitution.
Two more women could be charged, police said.
Suffolk police spokeswoman Lt. Debbie George said the undercover special investigations unit, responsible for vice and narcotics, had learned that prostitutes advertise on Craigslist. Some crimes in the city, including robberies and shootings, also could be linked to prostitution, she said.
Police turned an apartment into a bachelor pad with rented furniture . After contacting the women through the Web site, police set up meetings with them over the weekend.
“It’s the new way in prostitution,” George said. “It’s going more high-tech. Literally hundreds are offering their services.”
In the computer age, the red-light district has moved to Craigslist, a community-based Web site for people who want to sell, buy or trade goods and
services. On Thursday, Craigslist offered more than 100 “erotic” ads for Hampton Roads. Many featured photos of nearly naked women who described their services in graphic language, offered their phone numbers and made no attempt to disguise their business. Others used codes – describing their hourly rates as “100 roses,” “150 wishes” or “140 candies.” Some ads offered 24/7 service, stop-and-go specials or military rates – with a valid ID. Among headlines pitching services : “Sexy with low rates” and “Southern hospitality – lunch special.”
One late-afternoon posting in the erotic services category warned: “Be careful out there ladies and gents … suffolk police busted 5 girls off craigslist. … Be safe.” That did little to discourage business: Within an hour, nearly a dozen more ads had gone up.
George said those charged were 26-year-old Jennifer Ely of Virginia Beach, with prostitution, cocaine possession and marijuana possession; 21-year-old Breanna K. Liggett of Chesapeake, with prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor; and 31-year-old Jennifer Blackwell, with prostitution and marijuana possession. Police did not release any further information about the suspects.
Police in other communities have used Craigslist as the basis to conduct similar stings, and the company has found itself under fire. Last month, Connecticut’s attorney general demanded the company do something to stop prostitutes from advertising on its site.
Craigslist has responded that the company does not condone illegal activity and tries to monitor the ads but that it counts heavily on viewers, who are asked to flag inappropriate posts for removal.
In an e-mail to The Pilot on Thursday, a Craigslist spokesman said the company has “implemented new technical measures that have reduced the number of erotic services ads by at least 80 percent.”
The company said it assists police on a daily basis with investigations and that it earns no revenue from the ads.
Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com
Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5555, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com
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Leave them alone
Prostitution should not be against the law and it's a waste of police man hours and tax dollars to chase them around. Go prosecute some real criminals!
Support for silc
"So all you do gooders, take care of your own life before you try to run an adults life that you have no right to."
Right on. It is time you all kept your noses in your own homes. I do not support prostitution but how is it my right to impose my morals on them as law? it's not, nor is it yours.
So 99% of them are on drugs. Please back that up. The primary reason that diseases are spread is the underground nature of the profession. The countries in which it is regulated, the women are tested, belong to unions, and even are eligable for state benefits. The down side is that in Germany the unemployed have to apply to these business' to collect benefits.
In the end, it is the oldest profession. There will always be a need as long as there are men(and women). These are not brothels but individuals that harm no one. If you think you can end this trade then you are delusional. One person questioned why there was a need. If you have to ask...
I do not agree that this is meddling as you put it, sylcnlac....
It is against the law, I may add. Most of these young women are strung out on drugs. They need help. They live in a circle of criminals. I would not want my child who participated in these activities to have control of my well being when I am older....
I do agree with you though, once they are adults, there is nothing you can do.
DCB, I said a grown adult
DCB, I said a grown adult child...how are you going to curtail and watch them and demand they follow YOUR ideals when they do not have to listen to squat that you say because once again..they are ADULTS even if they are you children..Parents need to get a life once their children are grown. This is the reason this country is in serious shape...parents trating their 40 and 50 year olds as kids and not making them accountable for their choices and actions..
Do you think that if my 30 year old daughter chose this profession, I would have ANY right to tell her to stop? Not on your life , just as she has no right to tell me who I can see, what I can do as long as it does not hurt others in my endevours...now, if you like your grown children meddling in your life, then so be it...I wish you all the happiness in the old folks home for surely thats where they will put you "knowing" this is best for you since you also think you know whats best for your grown kids..they learn these things from parents..privacy vs meddling vs living with bounderies..
rubusb - escort services
rufusb - I knew someone that had a number of escort services (no not a close friend). He DIDN'T want the girls having sex and they got fired if they did. He shut it all down AFAIK because he couldn't control the girls, and didn't want to risk getting in trouble over their actions outside of his wishes.
There is a decent documentary on the subject of prostitution and drug laws. It costs money to incarcerate. I think it's disgusting, but you can see all of the ads for one night hookups on craigslist. I'll probably start putting up fake ads on there and databasing the email addresses of those that respond. Others have done the same thing and found politicians replying and what not.
Tabor, You may live next door to a Craigs List participant....
and not even know it. Please, most hairdressers that do their business out of their home do not dabble with drugs and other crimes that 99 percent of these women do.
And sylcnlac, I am glad you were not my parent. If I knew my daughter was involved in this practice I would be afraid of the diseases she would bring into my home! Not to speake about this is against my beliefs and against the law.
Doc...
I don't live next door to Craig's List. I don't understand this response...Craigslist is not illegal.
I can have a crime free neighborhood with prostitutes next door if prostitution were not a crime, right? But it is a crime, so again, I'm not seeing the point.
Of course, my neighborhood has a restrictive covenant barring all retail businesses, but if it didn't, how would a prostitute operating next door, out of public view, violate my rights in any manner a hairdresser next door would not? Because prostitution is a crime, hairdressing is not. It might not bother you to have neighbors engaging in illegal prostitution, but other neighbors might disagree.
...I can see no warrant in our US Constitution, nor in that of Virginia, for government to interfere. Good reason to change current laws, but not a good reason to ignore them.
jmo
Just when is enough?
Just when is enough? Hypocrisy rules our lives. We have prostitution in Vegas in certain areas that are legal. They have legal brothels. Now...how can this be that it can be legal and then NOT legal..where does the buck stop for government interference..Legalize it, have mandatory medical checkups, tax it and I bet you our diseased population would diminish tremendously for if you had a choice of going to someone "well" vs the "unknown" , who would YOU pick..if the need to visit these girls of the night were so strong...
What if...
Men stopped buying the services of prostitutes? Is it necessary to purchase what any heterosexual man ought to be able to acquire with patience? Maybe a lack of patience is the whole problem, plus the sense of entitlement about the "need" to "satisfy urges". I am not presenting these comments as moralistic. I just wonder why prostitutes are even necessary.
What if it was my sister or
What if it was my sister or daughter, or husband? All I can say is this. Why does one feel that it is ok to run everyone elses life to the tune of their own dance? If my sister felt like prostituting herself..I ask you this, just what should I do to stop it? She chose to do it, feels she has every right to do it and she is making a living for herself and is a grown adult.
Same goes for my daughter. Once she is an adult..who am I to tell her how to live HER life?? Who is anyone to tell anyone how to live THEIR lives? Get over yourselves..adults can and will make choices all their lives that most will not agree with, but who are we to tell them any different? If you came and told me I couldn't have sex for money, and being an adult..I would laugh you out of my house and maybe have you arrested for interfering in my life..now if my husband decided he wanted these services..I would be a single woman very quickly...
So all you do gooders, take care of your own life before you try to run an adults life that you have no right to.