July 2009

Sports reporter for N.H. paper allegedly ran prostitution ring:

50-year-old Kevin Provencher of Manchester, New Hampshire has been a sports reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader for the past 23 years. The police in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and possibly Canada say that he’s been a craigslist and backpage pimp for an undisclosed amount of time.

Prosecutor Michelle Defeo said Provencher would rent a room in the hotel, then two women would arrive, followed by a steady flow of male visitors.

Provencher has been suspended by the paper pending the outcome of the situation.

Md. woman trafficked 3 teen girls from DC to NY:

I originally posted about Lea Bell here (3rd story down). Along with Byron Thompson the Reisterstown, Md. couple were federally indicted on sex trafficking charges for pimping out underage girls on craigslist.

Both of them have pleaded guilty. Thompson will be sentenced in October. No word on when Bell will be sentenced yet.

Since the feds are involved I hope they throw the book at them and make an example out of them.

Officials say Craigslist is still selling sex:

Cook County, Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart says that he is not dropping his lawsuit against craigslist and that they are basically yanking his chain when it comes to their boasts about curbing prostitution on their site.

“It makes me wonder, do they really think I’m sort of stupid, some bobblehead who will think they changed it?” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who sued the San Francisco-based company earlier this year, calling it the nation’s largest source of prostitution. “They seem to insist on being cute and playing games (and) it’s getting old.”

I would buy a Tom Dart bobblehead but I digress. He’s accusing craigslist of not providing him with the information he’s requested on how craigslist is monitoring the adult services section. Dart’s attorney says that since ‘the change’ the ads have become even more blatant with actual prices replacing the ‘requests for roses’.

Again while I agree with of Sheriff Dart’s accusations I have to wonder why in the interest of eliminating prostitution why he isn’t going after Village Voice Media owned backpage as well.

SC AG asks judge to drop Craigslist lawsuit:

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has asked a federal judge to dismiss the complaint filed against him by craigslist.

McMaster had previously threatened craigslist with prosecution for the prostitution ads on their site. Craigslist responded by filing a compliant against McMaster stating that McMatser’s threats violated craigslist’s constitutional rights.

While I don’t have a dog in this fight I’ve still haven’t heard if McMaster is going after backpage or if he’s even aware of their existence. They seem to be gaining on craigslist as be the country’s largest pimp.