TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: human trafficking

  • craigslist denies responsibility again

    Cops trail Craigslist ads to sex offenders:

    This is an article from The Tennessean about craigslist prostitution in their area. Nothing new that hasn’t been covered before. But once again craigslist is paying nothing but lip service to the actual problem. Once again let’s hear from craigslist’s mouthpiece Susan MacTavish Best.

    Susan MacTavish Best, a Craigslist spokeswoman, says the misuse of the site for illegal purposes is unacceptable and that a series of new measures is being undertaken to reduce the number of erotic services ads by at least 80 percent.

    “Unlike the weekly newspapers, telephone yellow pages and numerous websites large and small that make a profitable business out of ‘erotic services’ ads,” she wrote in an e-mail, “Craigslist earns no revenue whatsoever from such ads.”

    Again I say if it’s so unacceptable to craigslist why don’t they do away with the erotic services section? Personally, I think that newspapers and phone books shouldn’t be advertising for hookers either but at least with those mediums a paper trail is left if an investigation is warranted. A paper trail is a lot easier to follow than an electronic one. Out of all the times that you claim to assist law enforcement how many illegal acts on craigslist have gone unchecked? It’s almost like craigslist is proud of the fact that they help facilitate prostitution and child prostitution.

    The fact that they claim they have no responsibility in such matters is a joke.

    So Ms. Best, are you proud of what craigslist does?

  • craigslist CEO reacts to Conn. AG

    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 allows all types of criminals to prey upon the law-abiding users of craigslist.

  • craigslist CEO on erotic services

    craigslist CEO on erotic services

    Speaking of craigslist’s ugly-ass official blog, CEO Jim Buckmaster posted this entry the other day about craigslist’s new phone verification system for their erotic services section. I have yet to check it out, but I’m sure I can find numerous ways that it can be circumvented. Anyway, he claims that it cut down on the number of erotic service ads by 80%. That’s still 20% too many. Even one instance of child prostitution or human trafficking is still too many.

    Mr. Buckmaster also said that they are looking for additional ways to eliminate criminal activity on craigslist. I’ve got two ways that would eliminate most, if not all, the crime on craigslist. Take away the anonymity and do away with the erotic services section.

    I’ll be awaiting my consultant’s check, Jim.

  • craigslist prostitution in Charlottesville

    craigslist prostitution in Charlottesville

    Looking Into The World Of Online Prostitution In Charlottesville:

    This is a great story from WCAV in Charlottesville, Virginia about craigslist prostitution in their area. I realize it was probably done for ratings sweep’s week, but it’s still a great story nonetheless.

    They interviewed a craigslist prostitute over the phone. Here’s just a sample of what really caught my attention…

    Mark: Do you have any kids?

    Alecia: uh huh.

    Mark: What do you tell them when you’re leaving the house?

    Alecia: I’m going to work. I do what I do right now so that they won’t have to.

    Yep, no victims there.

    But what was even more shocking to me was the police department’s response to this.

    We contacted Albemarle County and Charlottesville Police to get their reaction. Albemarle County Police say they were unaware of the website and would look in to it. Charlottesville Police said they would get back to us.

    What rock are they living under?

    craigslist had its usual response…

    Craigslist does ban illegal activity in their terms of use. After contacting them they say they do everything they can to prevent anything illegal on their website but it’s impossible to review each of the more than 30 million free postings submitted each month.

    Translation: We don’t care.

  • craigslist blows $1.6M on UC Berkeley

    craigslist blows $1.6M on UC Berkeley

    Craigslist Foundation Donates $1.6M To UC Berkeley:

    Craigslist, the popular community networking Web site, has donated $1.6 million to the University of California, Berkeley, to help create the first endowed professorship at its 5-year-old Berkeley Center for New Media.

    The mission of the center is to advance new media in the public interest, and to explore the effect of new media on culture, said engineering Professor Ken Goldberg, who was appointed director of the center in July.

    I wonder how far that money would have gone towards the effort to stop the human trafficking that their site facilitates.

  • The victimless crime strikes again

    The victimless crime strikes again

    Man Faces Federal Charges in a Sex Ring in Minnesota:

    41-year-old Liqing Liu, a Chinese national living in Minnesota, is facing federal charges of transporting women across state lines to engage in prostitution. He ran several massage parlors, some of which that advertised on craigslist, with women that were basically slaves to him…

    Sgt. Grant Snyder of the Minneapolis Police Department, a lead investigator, said the women, all Chinese or Korean, were prohibited from leaving the place of business, kept under video surveillance, and had their passports and other forms of identification confiscated.

    The women’s poverty, language barriers and immigration status were used against them, Sergeant Snyder said, and the authorities said they were treating the women as crime victims and not criminals.

    The authorities described the patrons as mostly white upper-middle class men between 35 and 55, including doctors and business owners. They usually paid $80 a session, which the prostitutes were obligated to hand over to Mr. Liu, the police said.

    The women could negotiate with customers for more money, the police said, but their earnings were marginal at best; one illegal South Korean immigrant mentioned in the criminal complaint had to pay Mr. Liu $40 a day for room and board. He booked her airfare, later deducting it from her prostitution wages, the police said.

    Even if prostitution was legal, there would still be scumbags like Liu forcing women like these into sex slavery.

  • More Tarheel shenanigans in the Big Apple

    More Tarheel shenanigans in the Big Apple

    Craigslist pimp from Queens busted:

    Carlton “Privilege” Simons, 25, of Queens, and Shernett “Divine” Reevey, 24, of Charlotte, N.C., were convicted late Friday of luring the teenage student from her home with promises of money and introductions to rap celebrities.

    Once in New York, however, the 18-year-old woman was physically and verbally abused, forced to pose for provocative photographs later posted to Craigslist and to prostitute herself at hotels and at a “track,” or a location frequented by sex workers and their customers from Lexington to Park Avenue on 48th Street.

    Still think prostitution is a victimless crime?

  • MySpace pimp facing federal charges

    MySpace pimp facing federal charges

    Feds hit MySpace pimp suspect with child sex trafficking charge:

    I’ve posted about Malvin Parker Jr. before. He’s the guy from California who was arrested for allegedly pimping out an underage girl he groomed on MySpace. Well, he just found himself in a whole new world of trouble. He’s now looking at 10 to life on federal charges of sex-trafficking children.

    The federal government has an interest in the case because Parker allegedly enticed the victim, a 16-year-old runaway from Washington state, across state lines through MySpace, a social networking site. Federal law prohibits using “force, fraud or coercion” to get a minor across state or national boundaries to engage in a “commercial sex act.”

    As the kids say these days…Oh snap!!!

  • Sobering stats

    Sobering stats

    Crackdown on S.J. prostitution turns to the Web:

    This article from a Northern California newspaper has some pretty sobering statistics about craigslist prostitution.

    Determining just how many prostitutes are operating on the Web is tricky. The erotic services section of Craigslist’s Stockton-area section has had nearly 5,115 posts since Aug. 13, many of them duplicates. Some have been posted by those who offer services for free.

    For reference, there were 998 posts for furniture for sale by owner in that period.

    The trend locally mirrors what’s happening in the nation’s largest cities. Craigslist erotic services postings totaled 97,243 in New York, 27,174 for Los Angeles and 7,435 for Chicago in a similar timeframe.

    craigslist’s resident mouthpiece had the usual to say.

    Craigslist relies on its users to report posts that are deemed inappropriate, wrote Susan MacTavish Best, a spokeswoman for the Web site, in an e-mail response to questions.

    The Web site’s staff is not legally obligated to monitor the millions of posts it receives each month, but it does remove prohibited content – anything unlawful or pornographic, according to MacTavish Best.

    Police occasionally come knocking about posts.

    “We are contacted by law enforcement from time to time,” MacTavish Best wrote, “and Craigslist cooperates fully with the police and other authorities.”

    Yet, they keep their erotic services section up and running and continue to facilitate in all forms of prostitution and possibly human trafficking.

  • More on craigslist trafficking

    More on craigslist trafficking

    Web driving human trafficking:

    Our favorite website has been mentioned in the same breath as human trafficking once again.

    There was a human trafficking conference in Minnesota and this is what someone in the know had to say.

    Heather Weyker, a 10-year veteran of the St. Paul Police Department, had this to say.

    “We’re on Craig’s List constantly, looking for girls who look young,” Weyker said at the conference, describing the popular online classifieds site. “They always have captors. How many 13-year-old girls think, ‘Hey, I think I’ll put myself on Craig’s List.”‘

    And this is what you’re supporting when you use a craigslist or any other kind of prostitute.

    They don’t have the option to quit their “work” without suffering physical or sexual punishment, conference participants said. They can’t even walk out the door unaccompanied by one of their captors.

    “We’re not just talking about illegal aliens or about people who are disadvantaged,” said U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose. “These are also girls from the suburbs. It can affect anyone.”

    Victimless crime, my ass.