Technology

Prostitutes Advertising Services On Craigslist

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― North Texas prostitutes have turned to the internet to advertise their services. So, undercover officers have changed their tactics to make arrests.

According to authorities, Craigslist has become a hot spot for prostituion ads. And likewise, the most recent arrests happen after online postings. Women never even hit the street before they are caught and taken into custody.

Craigslist was designed to be an online garage sale. Millions of the ads are legitimate. "More and more ads appear every day," said one undercover officer. "There's so many people getting into it."

However, the site has also become the location of a variety of criminal activity.

"There are legitimate massage services offered on Craigslist," the officer said, "but I'd say easily 50 to 70 percent of those are going to be offering extras."

"Street level prostitutes, the ones actually on the streets, are going to Craigslist," explained the undercover officer. "Their pimps are actually using computers and putting [the prostitutes] on Craigslist, that way they can supposedly screen their customers coming in."

Helen Nance was arrested for prostitution in her own apartment. Detectives said that the 34-year-old posted an online ad on Craigslist. An undercover officer responded to that ad. When he arrived, he was offered sex for cash.

The Fort Worth Police Department's Vice Squad takes these kinds of crimes very seriously. "A lot of them are involved in other criminal enterprises, narcotics, stolen goods, ID theft," said the undercover detective. "Not only that, a lot of them are doing their prostitution services without any type of protection, so disease is being spread."

Undercover officers in Fort Worth have arrested nearly a dozen people since the beginning of the year, all after ads posted on Craigslist.

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