A young looking gal in a racy ad on Craigslist drew some police attention. Read more at KETV.com…

Provocative Ad Leads Omaha Police To Motel 6
Police Arrest Girl, 17

Omaha police undercover officers responded to a prostitution ad on Craigslist after seeing a teenager posing in a towel and offering the “real deal.”

The appointment led them to “Sparkle,” a 17-year-old who showed up at Motel 6 on Wednesday at 84th Street and Interstate 80 with a pimp and two other prostitutes, police spokeswoman Darci Tierney said.

The teen left in handcuffs, and police said they cracked down on a small prostitution operation that has been taking place at the motel. Police said it was practically a business.

“This hotel they were at has a lot of activity there, a lot of activity,” Tierney said.

Officers said the teen showed up and began negotiating a price for sex.

“It was obvious that she had been doing this for some time,” Tierney said.

Omaha, Nebraska LE are combing Craigslist for working girls, and the men who love them.  Read the whole story at KETV.com…

Craigslist Sex Ads Lead To More Arrests
Police, Prosecutors Say Many Ads Promote Prostitution

Police said that two Craigslist ads led to additional arrests on prostitution charges and Omaha City Attorney Marty Conboy said investigators are keeping a close eye on the site.

The two recent cases followed the highly publicized arrests of six men who had answered craigslists ads.

Just weeks later, investigators had undercover officers answer new ads to see if the person who placed them was trying to sell sex.

“They went to Craigslist, answered some ads and did a check to see if there were prostitution activities being conducted,” said Conboy.

He said they arrested a 21 year old woman at one location, and further said another 20-year-old woman was arrested about an hour earlier at the same address.

A week earlier, Douglas County deputies cited a woman and an alleged client, accusing them of engaging in an act of prostitution based on a Craigslist ad.

The man was ordered to pay a $500 fine on Wednesday and the woman was sentenced to spend 30 days in jail.

Conboy said sex ads are rampant on craigslist.

“There’s just page after page of these ads and they’re very blatant,” he said. “They use code words and kinds of winks and nods.”

He said those code words include phrases like “girlfriend experience” and offers promising “hot deals for $150 per hour.”

“If you look at those sites, you will see a high number of very specific and graphic ads that have led to public concern and complaints,” Conboy said.

Law enforcement in Nebraska discovers escorts are using the internet to advertise their goodies. Running water and indoor plumbing can’t be too far behind. Read the whole article at KETV.

Police Eye Craigslist Ads For Sex Stings
Popular Classified Ad Site Contains Discrete Sexual Solicitations, Officer Says

Police said a group of six people arrested Tuesday in a sting operation targeting solicited sexual encounters used the online classified ad service Craigslist to arrange the meetings.

The popular site has been used to advertise everything from jobs to speed boats but has also been a conduit for illegal and illicit activities.

At first glance, the Casual Encounters section appears to be a way to meet new friends or find a date. But a closer look at the ads suggests otherwise.

“It’s supposed to be strictly platonic, but if you go inside, it’s just casual sexual encounters,” said Internet Task Force member Sgt. Jeremy Kinsey.

Some neat insights into efforts to regulate the escort agency business from a lady who runs an escort service.  The Journal Star reports…

Escort service owner speaks out on bill

A bill introduced by Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial that would require escort services to be licensed — a costly, work-intensive process that would likely put a stop to many of them — prompted one escort service owner to speak her mind.

She calls herself Reese DeBoccio, not her legal name, and she has run Allure Entertainment for 10 years. She wonders why Christensen has not contacted owners of escort services that are operating legally to get their cooperation and information on making positive changes.

The problems are with the entertainers and the clients not willing to follow the laws already in place, she said.

The major thing she teaches those new to the business is that they are first and foremost “incredible listeners” and ego builders, she said.

“Escort does not mean prostitution,” she said. And the majority of people who work in the business are not trying to break the law.

The “visual entertainers” at Allure are not into getting drugs, or attention from men, she said. They are into paying their bills and supporting their kids.

Sexuality is a part of human existence in all cultures, DeBoccio said. And control of escort services should be done through reasonable measures that allow for safe activity.

If women who work for legitimate escort services lose confidentiality, the most appealing would not want to be involved, she said, and the more unscrupulous who have nothing to lose would become the new pool of entertainers.

The women who work for Allure are private contractors, she said, and she is the manager, trainer, coach and protector.

“This is an ugly business,” she said. “You’ve got to run it safely.”

A look at how the industry is reacting to Craigslist working with law enforcement in its fight against escort services. Read the whole story at InternetNews.com…

Life After Craigslist for Online Sex Trade
By Kenneth Corbin

Craigslist made a splash last month when it announced a set of policy changes aimed at stamping out sex crimes facilitated through the Erotic Services section of its site. But sex workers and legal experts say the measures are likely to have scant impact on the shadowy world of online prostitution.

Following the initial report about the new policies, a reader who identified herself as a “working girl in San Francisco” told InternetNews.com that Craigslist is hardly the only game in town.

“Because of the new procedure on Craigslist, we are turning to other Web sites … to promote our services,” she wrote in an e-mail. “These sites are free and just as effective. I don’t believe that this change in Craigslist will do anything to affect the industry.”

The reader declined to be interviewed further for this report, but people on both sides of the war on prostitution agree that the multiplicity of adult-oriented sites on the Internet has made the policeman’s work considerably more complicated.

“It’s really just a function of today’s digital economy,” said Alex Southwell, an attorney with the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and a former federal prosecutor. “The Internet’s ability to make illicit services available is really groundbreaking.”

“It’s a question of convenience,” Southwell told InternetNews.com. “It used to be for prostitution you would have to go to some shady corner of town at night. Now you can do it on the Internet.”

Some interesting analysis on Craigslist’s new found cooperation with law enforcement regarding the erotic services niche. Read the whole story at The Las Vegas Sun…

Hawking erotic services? Craigslist now has your number
By Abigail Goldman

Mahria is a “beautiful blonde” offering “erotic wrestling” for $100.

Dru is charging $80 for an hour of “sensual massage.”

Alicia can be at your door in half an hour.

These advertisements, which come with photos a family newspaper won’t print, are a small sample of what can be found in the “erotic services” section of Craigslist in Las Vegas — an online classified ads Web site that, aside from helping people find roommates or sell old lawn mowers, has become one of the most popular ways for Clark County escorts to peddle their wares to the electronic masses. It’s an Internet buffet of costly companionship, but perhaps not for long.

Just over two weeks ago, Craigslist began charging a fee to advertise on the site’s “erotic services” section. The fee is small — $5 — but the consequences are huge.

The fee must be paid with a credit card, and Craigslist will supply this credit card information to law enforcement officials, should they subpoena it. Erotic services advertisers must also provide a phone number, which an automated system will call before any posting is published online.

In short, Craigslist is working with the police.

Erotic services advertisements in the dozens of American cities Craigslist serves have fallen dramatically since Nov. 6, when the fee took effect, the company’s chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, told the Sun. On Monday in Las Vegas, that meant there were only 362 erotic services ads posted on Craigslist. The Monday before the traceable fees, there were more than 1,100 ads.

Is the party over for working girls on Craigslist? Read the whole story at SFGate.com…

Craigslist to crack down on prostitution ads

Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged Thursday to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites.

As part of Craigslist’s agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an “erotic services” ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.

The law catches up with a part-time talent agent (or part-time fast food employee).  The North Platte Bulletin reports…

Police pop North Platte prostitution ring
by Frank Graham

The North Platte police Monday arrested a 36-year-old North Platte man for pandering.

Kevin D. Leslie ran a prostitution ring from an apartment in North Platte, according to Lt. Rick Ryan.

Leslie was charged in Lincoln County Court Tuesday with pandering and could face a maximum 5-years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both if convicted. He asked for a public defender and was held on a $5,000 bond.

Lincoln County Judge Kent Florom set Leslie’s preliminary hearing for Oct. 9.

Pandering is the act of enticing another person to become a prostitute or receiving something of value to procure another person to commit an act of prostitution, according to the criminal complaint filed in court Tuesday.

Ryan said one of Leslie’s customers had a flash of conscience Monday and went to police headquarters to report the crime. He told officers that he had paid $100 for one hour with one of Leslie’s girls and cooperated fully in the police investigation.

Ryan said the man came forward to report the crime to police because he believed it was wrong.

Investigators got a search warrant for Leslie’s small apartment but he had left it. They arrested him at his job at Arbys.

Ryan said investigators know Leslie was “pimping” at least one other prostitute out of the apartment and suspect he might have had others and it could go as high as four more. He said the investigation was continuing and that any women working for Leslie would likely be arrested for prostitution, a Class-I misdemeanor.

The police in some jurisdictions have taken to placing ads on Craigslist to bust hapless clients.

Police: Men responded to prostitution ads placed by undercover investigator

Police have arrested two men who allegedly responded to online prostitution ads placed by an undercover investigator.

One man allegedly responded to an ad that offered erotic services with a mother and her teenage daughter, said Officer Katie Flood.

Subsequent e-mails identified the daughter as a 15-year-old girl, Flood said. The man allegedly arranged to pay $200 for specific sex acts with the teen, even asking if the daughter had a “school girl outfit.”

The man was arrested Tuesday and jailed on suspicion of attempted first-degree sexual assault, Flood said. He also was cited on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution.

Another man also allegedly responded to an online ad placed by a police investigator on Craigslist, Flood said.

That man allegedly negotiated to have oral sex with the woman for $200, Flood said. He was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of soliciting prostitution.

A Catholic high school science teacher was among those ensnared by a recent police sting.  The Lincoln Journal Star reports…

Teacher among 7 men accused of soliciting prostitution
By the Lincoln Journal Star

A Pius X High School teacher was among seven men accused of soliciting prostitution following a weekend Project Safe Neighborhoods prostitution sting in the Near South area.

Stephen L. Lacher, 55, has taught science at Pius since fall 2005, according to Father Jim Meysenburg, the school’s superintendent.

Meysenburg, who wasn’t aware of the arrest, said the school would investigate further and take action if it is warranted.

“The school is committed to our students and the protection and safety of our students and the integrity of the school,” he said.

Officer Katie Flood alleged that one of the men offered to take the undercover officer to Europe with him. She alleged Lacher offered to help the officer with college. Flood said the men offered amounts from $10 to $200, as well as an iPod plus $45, for sex acts.