craigscrimelist

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.

Eagan couple's sex ads on craigslist were a setup for ID theft:
25-year-old Eric Christopher Thorsen and 30-year-old Amy Ruth Bergquist put the craigslist personals section to the most creative use yet. They would advertise as a couple looking for a sex partner. When some poor schnook would respond to their add. Thorsen and Bergquist would use the opportunity to steal their victim's identity. Read the article for one such alcohol fueled, little head thinking sap.

Remember guys, the craigslist three way is a lie.

Anoka County reels in stolen ice-fishing gear:
Two teens were arrested in Anoka County, Minnesota after trying to sell some stolen fishing gear on craigslist. Not just any fishing gear though. It was $20,000 worth of custom made fishing gear. The teens had stolen the items from a hardcore ice fisherman then tried to sell the stuff on craigslist because where else does anonymity allow you to sell stolen goods? However anonymity can work both ways because the buyer was an Anoka County investigator who was tipped off by the gear's actual owner.

I'll leave all the fishing jokes to the 'journalists'.

Cops: Child pornography found on accused Craigslist killer's computer:
While investigating the murder of Katherine Ann Olson police found child porn on the computer of her accused killer, Michael John Anderson.

In the affidavit for the search warrant, a BCA agent described it as "a photograph of two pre-teen boys, clearly under the age of 18, in the nude." It describes the boys engaged in a sex act.

Anderson is accused of placing a phony ad for a nanny job on craigslist. When Olson responded to the ad at Anderson's house he allegedly killed her.

Murder suspect in court Tuesday:
Michael John Anderson of Savage, Minnesota is scheduled to appear in court this Tuesday to enter his plea. Anderson is accused in the murder of Katherine Ann Olson. Ms. Olson answered a fake ad on craigslist placed by Anderson advertising a nannying job. When Olson arrived for the 'interview' Anderson allegedly killed her by shotting her in the back and then disposed of her body.

If Anderson pleads not guilty then a trial date will be set.

Madam who ran online teen prostitution sentenced:
Back in the early days of this site, way back in September of 2007, I posted about the teenage madam from Minnesota, Justine Alex Reisdorf, aka Deja.

She was arrested for running a prostitution ring made up mostly of high school girls some of which were underage.

Yesterday Ms. Reisdorf was sentenced to 5 years in the federal pen. Reisdorf copped to a plea in order to avoid a mandatory 10 year minimum sentence if convicted.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz commented on the severity of the human trafficking charge...

Schiltz said five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release was reasonable in her case. "Human trafficking of a minor is a truly awful crime," Schiltz said. Some victims have described it as worse than death, and some have chosen death by committing suicide to escape it, he added.

Schiltz said he did not believe it's less harmful to be betrayed by a peer or a friend and it might even be considered an escalating factor "because Miss Reisdorf knew the harm that could be done."

Furthermore, the record shows that Reisdorf allegedly threatened an underage witness. Schiltz said he wanted Reisdorf and others who might engage in such activities to know "that serious crimes come with serious consequences."

Some people who frequent this site seem to think that legalizing prostitution would solve the problems of human trafficking and child prostitution. Those people are fools who don't realize that it would only drive it underground even further.

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.

Grand jury hands up first-degree murder charges in Olson case:
A Minnesota grand jury handed down an indictment today of first degree murder for 19-year-old Michael John Anderson. Anderson is accused of killing 24-year-old Katherine Ann Olson after Olson answered a phony employment ad placed by Anderson.

When Savage police interviewed Anderson, he initially denied having contact with Olson.

Anderson then admitted to being present when Olson died. He said a friend killed the woman because he "thought it would be funny."

However the evidence that's been released mostly points to Anderson acting alone.

After a bloodied towel - with Anderson's name inked on it and Olson's smashed cell phone wrapped inside - was found in a nearby Savage park, authorities picked up Anderson from his job fueling airplanes at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. His phone number was the last one called on Olson's phone.

Minnesota does not have the death penalty as much as this scumbag deserves it.

Craigslist ad leads to bust in Baldwin:
37-year-old Tracey George of Baldwin Twp., Minnesota was afrrested on prostitution charges after a "concerned citizen" tipped off police to a craigslist ad for "erotic messages" . I'm pretty sure they meant massages since she was arrested on prostitution charges. You gotta love small town news.

Online nanny ad ends in slaying:
The employment ads on craigslist used to be the only trustworthy part of their site. They're the only paid ads on the site. Those days are now over.

Katherine Ann Olson was a 24-year-old from Minneapolis who had used craigslist many times before to find nanny jobs. It seemed that the last one she answered was no different. That was until her body was found in the trunk of her car Friday night. She had responded to an ad looking for a nanny that she thought was placed by a married couple in Savage, MN. The ad was actually placed by a 19-year-old man who police believe is her killer.

Police aren't releasing the suspect's name or how Katherine Ann Olson was murdered. The suspect must be one sick SOB to take a paid ad out on craigslist just to kill an innocent woman.

I'll post more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Being the expert blogger that he is Steve Huff has a more detailed post and the name of the suspect which is Michael John Anderson.

Stolen trailer finds its way back to Boy Scouts:
This is lower than low. A gopher looks at this story and goes "Damn, that's low."

Some nefarious cretin stole an equipment trailer from a Minnesota Boy Scout troop, with all their gear still inside. Where did it end up? Why craigslist of course. However the story has a somewhat happy ending. The man who bought the trailer from the crook discovered that it was a Boy Scout trailer and returned it to the scouts.

However the Scout's equipment is still gone, the craigslist buyer is out $1,600, and the perp is still at large.

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.

Eagan teen charged in prostitution ring pleads guilty:
19-year-old Justine Alex Reisdorf, aka Deja, of Eagan, MN has pleaded guilty to running a prostitution ring made up mostly of underage high school girls. Of course she advertised on craigslist.

Investigators believe that Justine Alex Reisdorf, also known as "Deja," operated a prostitution ring of high school students through a condominium and a Burnsville motel where she had worked. They said she advertised in the "erotic services" section of Craigslist, as well with as the "Live Links" telephone chat line.

As part of a plea agreement, Reisdorf admitted placing an ad in February on Craigslist, and the government agreed to dismiss a charge of sex trafficking of a minor.

Eagan Police Detective Kurt Bratulich initiated the investigation in December after one of the girls who allegedly worked for Reisdorf confided in him. The Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the case "once we found that the Internet was used and that the victims were underage," he said in a July interview.

And yet the naysayers continue to mock the Mayor of Atlanta who says that child prostitution is a problem on craigslist.