Dirty Ads Make Craigslist a Bad Citizen

Deunte Heath accused of offering money for sex

(NEWSER) - A Craigslist prostitution sting arranged by Florida police has netted, among several others, an Atlanta Braves minor league pitcher. Deunte R. Heath, 24, is accused of offering $75 for a “sex act,” the Orlando Sentinel reports. Cops posted fake ads on the Craigslist and Backpage websites and nabbed suspects when they arrived at a home in Kissimmee. The team would not comment. More»

(NEWSER) - Sure, the ads in Craigslist’s new “Adult Services” section are tamer than those that appeared in the old “Erotic Services” category, shuttered after the firestorm surrounding the “Craigslist killer” case. But read between the lines and the meaning is still the same, Chris Matyszczyk writes for CNET. “This is little more than a dance, a dysfunctional Argentine tango between those who advertise sexual services on Craigslist and those who have sought to pursue the site.” More»

(NEWSER) - Craigslist has agreed to dump its “erotic services” ads, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced today. In their place will be a new employee-reviewed adult category. The site has been under pressure to act in response to the so-called "Craigslist killer" case, in which a Boston premed student is accused of killing a masseuse he found through an ad on the site. Madigan, along with AGs from Connecticut and Missouri, met with site officials last week, arguing that the erotic services ads often promoted illegal services. More»

Four bodies identified by Long Island police as prostitutes

(NEWSER) - Long Island police fear they are facing a Craigslist killer, after identifying the skeletal remains of three women found dumped on a local beach last month —all were prostitutes, less than 5 feet tall, and about 100 pounds, and all three advertised on the popular classifieds site. One of the women had been missing since 2007. A fourth body found nearby was identified last week as a prostitute who had been missing since last summer. More»

But it took parents a surprisingly long time to catch on

(NEWSER) - Friends and co-workers warned schoolteacher Melissa Petro that it might not be such a great idea to write about her past as a prostitute, but she did it anyway. Most recently, Melissa Petro wrote about her thoughts on the shutdown of Craigslist's "erotic services" section, which she used for four months, for the Huffington Post . Cue the New York Post's predictably juicy-sounding "exclusive" ("SEXXX ED"), in which outraged parents express their belief that, as one says, "People like that should not be allowed to be anywhere near children." More»