Massachusetts

?Prostitution thrives online on South Shore:

This is just an article about how craigslist prostitution has taken hold on the South Shore of Massachussets. I just wanted to post a quote from one police officer in the article…

“For the last few years, I haven’t come across a prostitution case where (craigslist) wasn’t involved somewhere,” said Sgt. Richard Fuller of Weymouth, where police check the site two to three times a week.

I guess that self-policing by craigslist users is really on the rise.

Police: Pembroke man ran craigslist clearinghouse for burglars:

Our favorite joint police task force, the W.E.B. Major Crimes and Drug Task Force, has struck again and this time it’s not for prostitution.

28-year-old Benjamin M. Stone of Pembroke, Mass had his house raided by the W.E.B. Task Force. It turns out that Mr. Stone is an alleged fence who would buy and sell stolen items. He was tripped up when one of his customers tried to sell some equipment he got from Stone on craigslist. The seller than dimed out Stone.

Also arrested were John Sullivan, 30, and John Pennio, 24, for receiving stolen goods.

I wonder what would happen if craigslist users weren’t allowed almost unlimited anonymity? Hmmmm.

Nine arrested for prostitution:

I originally posted about the WEB Task Force here and they’ve netted 9 this time on various craigslist hooker stings.

Those arrested were…

The females arrested for engaging in sexual conduct for a fee were Michell Davey, 36, Jennifer Schaaf, 22, Chenchi Lin, and Emily Poland.

The males arrested for paying a fee for sexual conduct were Deric Lipski, 35, Mark Snow, 53, Jeffrey Wentworth, 36, and John Dietel, 42, of Seekonk.

Harold Conille, 26, was arrested for deriving support from prostitution.

That means he’s a pimp.

Some of the suspects also had outstanding warrants.

Prostitution arrest at Dedham motel:

Police in Dedham Mass. arrested Heather M. Morgan of Foxborough after seeing her ad on craigslist.

And now it’s time for the victim test…

Morgan was charged with offering sexual conduct for a fee, and three charges for possession of class A, B and C substances after detectives found Percocet, Xanax and heroin in her hotel room, Nedder said.

“She said that she allegedly got the (two bags) of heroin from the officer … but after being informed that he was an undercover police detective, she started to sob and admitted that the drugs and syringes were hers,” Nedder said.

Hooking for heroin, tell me she’s not a victim.

Woman charged with prostitution after posting online ad:
Another day another hooker. This time 24-year-old Amy Rose Stewart of Ashland, Mass. was arrested in neighboring Natick for running a prostitution operation out of a Natick motel which of course she advertised on craigslist.

The posting, still online yesterday, included a phone number, a photo of a naked woman holding her breasts and a graphic with the words, “You won’t be disappointed.”

You may not be disappointed but I bet she is…and her parents must be too.

Police: Woman on hooker scam called her victims ‘losers’:
34-year-old Judiann Madera of North Andover, Mass. has been arrested on several charges including prostitution and robbery. What Madera did was she placed an ad on craigslist offering sex for money. When the Johns would show up she and her boyfriend, Bienvenido “Benny” Almenas, 24, of Lawrence, Mass., would rob the Johns for money. Madera did not actually have sex with the victims. She referred to her victims as losers and said they deserve to have their money taken.

I know that it’s wrong, but if you’re stupid enough to pay somebody, then you’re stupid enough to get your money taken,” police quoted her as saying.

Hard to argue there. Anyway she figured that none of the victims would report the crime out of shame. She figured wrong.

Police said they learned about the scam when a victim e-mailed police on Sept. 28 and tipped them off to the situation. He told them he was robbed of more than $200, and he worried the same thing would happen to other people. Police conducted an undercover operation where they called the phone number in the craigslist.com advertisement and set up an appointment.

Madera and Co. tried to rob an undercover officer and it was all downhill from there.

It seems like that getting a craigslist hooker is a lot like Russian roulette. You never know which one is either going to be a cop or worse.

Bike path robber foiled by MySpace page:
A man from Somerville, Mass. was robbed of his cell phone. Rather than doing nothing about it he monitored craigslist for someone selling the phone which of course someone did.

With police assistance he set up a phony e-mail account and contacted the seller. While conversing with the seller he got the seller’s name, one 21-year-old Casey Kolenda.

The victim was able to identify the suspect through MySpace. Police and the victim then arranged to purchase the phone where they arrested Kolenda and another suspect.