TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Classifieds Crime

  • Cook County Sheriffs want erotic services eliminated

    Sheriff wants Craigslist to drop ads for erotic services:

    The Cook County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois wants craigslist to shut down their erotic services section for various reasons. Two of which are…

    When a Cook County sheriff’s investigator posed as a 14-year-old girl looking for sex online earlier this year, this was one of the replies:

    “I’d love to chat with you and set up some fun this afternoon. Do you have a pic of you?”

    And…

    In one case, the prostitute rented one room for her business and another for her children, Mateck said. After the woman was arrested, she failed to tell police her children were staying in another room, Mateck said.

    “Our officer went to the room, knocked on the door, and the woman’s 4-year-old daughter opened it,” Mateck said. “They went in and found the woman’s 2-year old son scooping water out of the toilet to drink.”

    But there are no victims, right?

    Cook County sheriffs have contacted craigslist but as of the time of the article, they have not received a response.

  • The victimless crime in Sacramento

    Underage prostitutes marketed on Internet:

    This is a great article from the Sacramento Bee about child prostitution on craigslist. Again it’s not worth quoting the article much because doing to so would insult the journalists who worked on it but I will give you two quotes that will get you to read the entire article.

    The first is just the opening sentence of the article…

    If she tried hard, 14-year-old Jasmine could have sex with nine men a day. She’d start posting ads online at 2 or 3 p.m., in time to set up appointments with early commuters.

    And as usual the craigslist big wigs had their usual non-response…

    Jim Buckmaster, craigslist’s CEO, wrote in an e-mail to The Bee that “there is nothing more gut-wrenching to our staff … than to hear that our site has been abused to exploit a child.”

    He said craigslist bans illegal activity and urges users to watch for exploited minors. Staff recently implemented new measures, including verifying phone numbers. The changes have reduced the volume of erotic services ads by 80 percent, he said.

    I guess we have to go through this again.

    First off if it was so gut-wrenching to craigslist they would do away with the erotic services section. Secondly again ‘users’ policing the site obviously doesn’t work. Like I’ve said many times before the users of the erotic services section aren’t going to flag any of the ads and users who use craigslist for normal stuff aren’t going in to the erotic services section to flag illegal ads. Lastly craigslist’s new measures may have eliminated 80 percent of the erotic ads but it hasn’t eliminated the problem of child prostitution on its site.

    Stop patting yourself on the back Jim, you’re part of the problem, not the solution.

  • craigslist rape in Florida

    Craigslist Rape Arrest:

    Police in Florida have arrested 36-year-old Bruce Martin. he is accused of contacting a woman through craigslist and offered to help her with her modeling career by taking pictures. When Martin met the woman he flashed a phony police badge to get her into his car and rape her at gunpoint.

  • Child prostitution in British Columbia

    Five girls in care have been selling sex on Craigslist, police say:

    Five teenagers in the care of British Columbia’s children’s ministry have been discovered prostituting themselves on craigslist. The teens are 16 and 17 and have been claiming in their ads that they are 18-20.

    This is a great article about how the Vancouver area has a problem with child prostitution on craigslist and how it’s almost tolerated.

  • New evidence in Katherine Ann Olson murder

    New evidence in Craigslist murder case:

    Michael John Anderson may just be the dumbest criminal ever. The suspect in the murder of Katherine Ann Olson actually sent a letter to his parents from jail asking them to pay someone to take the rap for him.

    Anderson lured Olson to his home with a phony craigslist employment ad and then shot and killed her once she was there.

  • Ga. craigslist rapist has HIV

    Police: Craigslist Rapist Has HIV:

    DeKalb County police in Georgia have arrested 18-year-old Allen Jamar McDowell of Decatur, Georgia for raping two women that he met through craigslist. The article infers that McDowell is also HIV positive.

    Detectives say Allen Jamar McDowell of Decatur convinced two women on separate occasions to meet him at an apartment off Kensington Road. The apartment was vacant, but McDowell allegedly gained access and held the women captive while he sexually assaulted them.

    Take away the anonymity of craigslist and I doubt this coward would have even struck.

    Police think there may have been more victims.

  • Victimless in Vallejo

    Mother, Son Accused Of Pimping 15-Year Old Girl. Girl Allegedly Pimped Out To More Than 1200 Men:

    37-year-old Lavern Vaughn and her son, 20-year-old Lavor Carter, of Vallejo, California have been arrested for pimping out a 15-year-old girl. The pair posted almost 700 ads on craigslist pimping the girl out in Northern California.

    The victim couldn’t just leave either…

    The federal indictment alleges carter would whip her with a belt and plastic rod, burn her with a lighter, or strike her. She reportedly tried to leave Carter on multiple occasions, but he told her that if she left, she would not leave alive.

    In the same indictment, Carter allegedly duct taped the minor to a chair inside an apartment and left her there for 12 hours. Other accusations include pouring boiling water on her leg and chest, and locking her in a garage all night long.

    If this story couldn’t be any sicker read what the suspects’ relative said when confronted by the media…

    We asked Gail Vaughn, mother and grandmother of the woman and young man arrested by FBI agents, if they were really pimping out a young girl. “No,” she said. “The girl they’re accused of pimping [isn’t] a kid. She’s 16 and has a two-year old daughter.”

    But she’s still a minor under the law. “Yeah, but we didn’t know that.”

    Who the hell doesn’t know that minors are under 18 and why is that supposed to make a difference?

    And that’s right I said victim. You can take your victimless crime and shove it.

  • craigslist child prostitution in the Bay Area

    Technology helps fuel ‘pimping’ of young girls:

    This is a very powerful article about a case of child prostitution in the Bay Area that was in part facilitated by craigslist.

    I would do the story and its author a great injustice if I tried to either quote or summarize the story. That’s how good I think it is.

    For those of you who think that child prostitution is not happening on craigslist you need to read this article.

    And again for those of you that think prostitution is a victimless crime you need to read this article.

  • The victimless crime in Milwaukee

    Craigslist child sex ads lead to arrests:

    A 15-year-old runaway girl from Onalaska, Wisconsin was found in Milwaukee prostituting herself on craigslist.

    Milwaukee police found that girl’s ad on Craigslist offering oral sex and other acts. She also was advertised as working with another female whose age was not listed in the warrant. Like the 16-year-old, detectives found the Onalaska girl at the Port Motel.

    Around that time, 33 advertisements on Craigslist offered prostitution in the Milwaukee area, about half of them from the 15-year-old girl, the warrant indicates.

    Police arrested an unnamed 21-year-old male who posted the ads on craigslist for her.

    But there are no victims here right?

    Our favorite craigslist mouthpiece had this to say…

    “Our hearts go out to the victim and their family, and there is nothing more gut-wrenching to our staff than to hear Craigslist has been abused to exploit children,” said Susan MacTavish Best of Craigslist.

    Riiiiiight. If your gut is that wrenched why does the erotic services section still exist?

    craigslist, the home of lip service.

  • craigslist CEO reacts to Conn. AG

    Dipping once again into the well of craigslist’s ugly ass blog we come across this missive from craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster about Conn. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

    While I think AG Blumenthal is out of his ever-lovin’ mind I do want to take Mr. Buckmaster to task for a quote in his post.

    Unlike the telephone yellow pages, many newspapers, and countless websites, which for many years have profited from “erotic service” ads, craigslist derives no revenue (let alone profit) from “erotic services”, and in fact we incur significant costs in enforcing our terms of use regarding these ads.

    It’s not about the cash Jim. It’s about the anonymity. Newspapers, phone books, etc can easily trace back to their clients if need be. On the other hand, you can not. It’s not just about the erotic services either, at least not with me. The anonymity of craigslist provides all types of criminals to prey upon the law-abiding users of craigslist.