Prostitution

St. Charles Police: Craigslist Raid Nabs Pastor:
In a craigslist hooker bust in St. Charles, Illinois a Presbyterian Minister was picked up. Six prospective johns were picked up in the bust and one of them happened to be Reverend Phillip Haltom.

I wonder why the other 5 suspects weren't named. I guess their occupations don't make for interesting copy.

Luckily this this article names four of them...

He and William J. Breedlove, 42, of North Barrington; Lanny D. Forrester, 57, of Downers Grove; Nicholas J. Stauropoulos, 35, of St. Charles; and Damon R. Thaker, 37, of Warrenville turned themselves in to police between May 5 and 7.

Police Crack Down On Coast Prostitution:
Police in Lincoln City, Oregon netted two in a craigslist hooker bust.

Police posted a phony hooker ad and were able to arrest an unnamed prominent businessman and retiree Carl Gripenburg. I wonder why the 'prominent businessman' wasn't named.

Gripenburg had no apologies...

"I didn't know it was illegal," Gripenburg said. "Two people want to get together, (I) don't see why it is illegal."

Gripenburg also said he made a mistake and that it was his first time.

First the only places that prostitution is legal in the US are certain counties in Nevada so I'm not buying that he didn't know it was illegal. Secondly someone who uses the I don't see why it's illegal argument is more than likely not a first timer.

Thanks to Reni for the tip.

Three Women Charged With Prostitution Near A School:
First off I have to pick a bone with the headline. It makes it seem as if these women were whoring themselves out in front of the school playground or something. They were actually a mile and a half away from the school. The whatever-free school zone laws are idiotic and do nothing to discourage criminals from these zones. The only purpose they serve is to make politicians feel good and keep criminals in jail longer. I like the last part of that law but like I said they do nothing to discourage criminals. Ok, rant over.

Nashville police arrested four in connection with prostitution after finding their ads on craigslist and Backpage.com. Those arrested were...

Vanessa Hedge, 25, of Goodlettsville
Lauren Hall, 19, of Franklin
Heather Soard, 20, of Murfreesboro
James Howard Malone, Jr., 22, of Murfreesboro

Malone was allegedly the pimp. Think there's no victims here. Take a look at the mugshots of these girls. They look far older than their actual ages.

Craigslist ad lands major prostitution bust:
Police in St. Paul, Minnesota arrested 13 suspects, both johns and hookers, after responding to 1 craigslist ad.

That is an awesome haul for police and the officers of St. Paul should be commended for their work.

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 carigslist and how it's almost tolerated.

Antioch Woman Allegedly Sold Sex On Craigslist:
Police in Antioch, California arrested Jennifer Cervantes, age not given, on a charge if suspicion of prostitution after undercover detectives responded to her craigslist ad.

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.

Woman Arrested For Craigslist Prostitution:
That lovely vision at right is 22-year-old Patricia Lewis of Omaha, Nebraska. She was arrested for prostitution after police saw her craigslist ad for "exclusive full service". She was asking $175 an hour.

I don't know which is worse the bad dye job or the neck tattoo.

Craigslist ads lead to prostitution sting:
Police in Wichia have arrested 8 in a craigslist prostitution sting ranging in ages from 22 to 37. It tickles me that one of the charges is 'sodomy for hire'. Sounds like the name of a bad porno.

Anyway I wanted to mention something about this quote...

Police said the online site did not break any laws _ it was how the suspects were using the site that constituted illegal activity.

Which I don't disagree with but if craigslist got rid of their erotic services section this would be less of an issue.

Four arrested in pimping, prostitution bust at Antioch motel:
Detectives in Antioch, California recently made arrests in a craigslist prostitution sting. During the investigation they found a 17-year-old runaway girl who was advertising in craigslist that was living with a 29-year-old registered sex offender. The sex offender, Glen Banks, was taken into custody for violating his probation.

Also arrested was 22-year-old Savanna Lopez, who was advertising of SFRedbook, and her alleged pimp 25-year-old Joseph Thomas.

A 17-year-old hooker living with a sex offender. Please tell me again how this is a victimless crime.

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.

Women offering prostitution services on craigslist caught in undercover sting:
Police in Suffolk, Virginia have arrested 3 craigslist hookers in a recent sting operation.

They are 31-year-old Jennifer Ann Blackwell who was also popped for having pot, 21-year-old Breanna Liggett, who brought along her 17-year-old sister for a two girl show, and 26-year-old Jennifer Ely who was also popped for cocaine.

The article provides a picture of Ms. Ely.



Oh yeah, I know where I've seen her...

She's 18, a senior — and a suspect in craigslist shooting:
The case of the canceled escort just keeps on rolling.

Now we are finding out that the escort in question, Starsha Laquisha Swift, had no intention of 'escorting' Mr. VanDyke. If you'll recall Mr. VanDyke oredered an escort from craigslist but tried to cancel the order. The escort showed up at his door anyway with muscle in tow. When Mr. VanDyke shut the door the muscle, Brock Franklin, shot Mr. VanDyke through the door shattering his jaw. Police are saying that Swift's only intent was to rob Mr. VanDyke.

It also turns out that she's still in high school...

She was arrested Monday after investigators went to her high school.

They confiscated her diary, which included an entry that read: "a man stood in the door clack shat boom what should I do run for safety wait patiently for the man to awake from critical condition," said the criminal complaint.

Wayzata High School Principal Craig Paul said Swift had re-entered the school in the affluent west metro suburb in the past week for the fourth quarter. He said he had no more details.

So think twice before ordering a craigslist hooker. You may have you face shot off by a high school kid.

Staying Safe When Using Sites Like Craigslist:
There has been a second arrest in the shooting of Jeff VanDyke. The alleged escort, 19-year-old Starsha Swift, has also been arrested.

Wow, turning tricks at 19 and helping to shoot people in the face. But again there's no victims here right?

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's 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.