TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: child trafficking

  • More underage prostitution on craigslist

    More underage prostitution on craigslist

    FBI investigates allegations of underage prostitution on Craigslist:

    More allegations of underage prostitution on everyone’s favorite website of scum and villainy, craigslist. Two girls out of Sacramento, California, ages 14 and 17, were found to have had ads on craigslist’s “erotic services” section.

    The affidavit describes the “erotic” ads as facilitating communication between prostitutes and clients, complete with code words calling the prostitutes “providers” and the clients “hobbyists.”

    The Sacramento site’s erotic offerings include many women posting images of their genitals and listing prices for half-hour and hour-long sessions. One ad depicts a pregnant woman, posts a phone number and offers to show callers that “pregnant women do it better.”

    The affidavit indicates that the underage girls allegedly photographed by Moore show the 14-year-old girl nude and touching herself suggestively. The 17-year-old’s ad offers various styles of sex and promises: “I will guarantee to fulfill all your naughty fantasies.”

    As usual, craigslist had a non-answer.

    The Sacramento case is the latest to focus legal scrutiny on Craigslist and prostitution ads on the highly popular Internet site. Craigslist has been linked in news accounts to prostitution stings from New York City suburbs to Chicago to Seattle. The company did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

    I wonder why? 🙄

  • Teen prostitutes uncovered in Chicago

    Teen prostitutes uncovered in Chicago

    Women charged with offering girls for sex:

    I’ll give you 3 guesses of which website they were advertising on. I’ll give you a hint. It rhymes with gregslist.

    Cook County Sheriffs in Illinois conducted a Craigslist prostitution sting which resulted in finding prostitutes ages 14, 15 and 16-years-old. Those charged in separate incidents were Tamara Cotton, 25, who was charged with keeping a place of prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and one count of pimping and child endangerment. Christina Holt, 19, who is charged with keeping a house of prostitution. Holt’s boyfriend, Montrell Knight, 34, who was storing guns and drugs for the Gangster Disciples, was charged with nine counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, armed violence, and three drug-related charges.

    The teen prostitutes themselves are not being treated as criminals, and Cook County is trying to get them help.

    So what does craigslist have to say about this?

    Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster wrote in an e-mail Thursday that illegal activity is prohibited on the site, and that the erotic services page is intended for use by “legal escort services and sensual massage providers.”

    “It was added at the request of our users, who wanted these ads separated from our general personals categories,” he wrote. “We appreciate and are fully cooperative with law enforcement efforts.”

    Legal escort services and sensual massage providers? Take it from someone who grew up in a town rife with prostitution, there is no such animal as “legal” escort services and sensual massage.

    Once again, craigslist is turning a blind eye to illegal activity on their site. They say that they’re fully cooperative with law enforcement, but it seems to me that it’s after the fact.

    Thanks to Tim for the link.

  • Child prostitution booming on craigslist

    Child prostitution booming on craigslist

    Online Child Prostitution, An Alarming Trend:

    This is an article from a Sacramento, CA news station about how child prostitution is proliferating due to the internet…

    (CBS 13) SACRAMENTO FBI agents say child prostitution is moving off the streets and onto the information superhighway. Sacramento Special Agent James Harris said sex peddlers have gotten tech savvy.

    “They figure if pedophiles can entice online, that’s their business, that’s what they do, said Harris.

    Harris says they set up profiles on MySpace or Yahoo to recruit and entice underage girls. Then they advertise them on the internet–through addresses like redbook.com, a bay area erotic services site, or legitimate places like Craigslist, where you can find a car, rent an apartment or an “erotic service.”

    “They’re advertised as of age when you look closer they’re not, said Harris.

    The face is usually cut out or covered in a way so the age is hard to tell and so that law enforcement can’t track them down. Agent Harris says most turn out to be reported missing and runaways.

    The only way to make money is to prostitute. A lot are beginning to see this is a safe way to do it than on the streets, said Harris.

    Hundreds pop up on Craigslist every day in Sacramento. Why the capital city? Harris says it’s a crossroads between Seattle, L.A., San Francisco and Reno, where I-5 and I-80 meets.

    Agent Harris admits these cases are tough to prosecute. Those who post the listings are hard to track down, in some cases out of the country. But the FBI says as their crime scenes shift, they’re investigating child sex for sale with more mouse than muscle.

  • More pimpin’ on craigslist

    More pimpin’ on craigslist

    Oakland Man Indicted For Pimping Teens On Web:

    OAKLAND — An Oakland man — captured after a footchase on a Las Vegas street — has been indicted on charges he used using various Web sites, including Craigslist, to prostitute two girls under the age of 18, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    Prosecutors said a federal grand jury in Oakland has indicted 34-year-old Marcus Sewell Aug. 10 on charges of sex trafficking of children and transporting minors in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

    According to the indictment, Sewell is alleged to have prostituted the two teenage girls and transported them from Northern California, Nevada and Florida for the purpose of prostituting themselves between April 2005 and June 2006.

    The indictment alleges that Sewell advertised the girls as escorts on Craigslist and other Web sites.

    The maximum sentence for sex trafficking of children is life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    The maximum sentence for transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity is 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

    This is no less than human trafficking and should carry more than just a life sentence and $250K fine. How about life without parole and a $2.5M fine?