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Sheriff Tom Dart sues Craigslist over sex ads
BY DON BABWIN

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist today, saying the popular online classifieds site promotes and facilitates prostitution on a massive scale.

“Craigslist is the single largest source of prostitution in the nation,” Dart said. “Missing children, runaways, abused women and women trafficked in from foreign countries are routinely forced to have sex with strangers because they’re being pimped on Craigslist.”

Dart is asking a federal judge to order Craigslist to eliminate its “Erotic Services” section, suggesting many of the section’s ads are blatant solicitations for prostitution.

In a release, Dart cited ads such as “Teens for cash … $100 quickie” and “Are you looking to make some good money in this tough economy. Minimum pay is $25 per hour … performing duties specified in Naughty Nannies handbook.”

“The worst part is Craigslist’s owners know their Web site is still being used for illegal purposes and they’re doing nothing to stop it,” Dart said.

San Francisco-based Craigslist did not immediately return e-mail and telephone message seeking comment. Telephone and e-mail messages also were left for the company’s public relations firm.

Craigslist allows users to post classified ads and other items and, like many other sites, generally doesn’t check the postings or remove them unless it receives complaints. Federal law offers broad immunity to service providers for content posted by users, as long as they respond to specific complaints.

Dart said the lawsuit follows repeated requests to Craigslist to shut down the “Erotic Services” section. He said he has provided information about arrests for charges such as juvenile pimping, child endangerment and human trafficking that his officers have made off the Web site.