Accused Craigslist Sex Peddlers Busted

New York State Indicts 7 For Running Online Prostitution Ring

(CBS/AP)  Seven people were indicted Wednesday for allegedly running a prostitution ring on Craigslist, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced.

Room Service Entertainment, headquartered in Queens, N.Y. and advertised in the "Erotic Services" section of the popular online classified site, was an illicit prostitution operation that used codes to arrange transactions, Cuomo's office said.

The arrest highlights the continued presence of prostitution ads on Craigslist, according to Cuomo.

“Until Craigslist gets serious about putting real protections in place, it will continue to be an environment where criminal operations thrive with impunity," Cuomo said in a press release. “Even after so-called reform of the Website last fall, this prostitution ring easily gamed the system ... Today's arrests underscore the inherent risks posed by Craigslist and, most importantly, the need for protections that are full-fledged, not half-baked.”

In addition to employing prostitutes, the company also hired "bookers" who would post ads to Craigslist and take phone calls from prospective customers to set up a meeting, officials said. On the phone, bookers and clients did not use the term sex and instead referred to "GFE," or girlfriend experiences, as well as "skiing" and "rock climbing," which referred to drugs and partying, according to authorities.

Among the indicted are the owners of the alleged ring - Scott Rosenberg, 45, and Josef Davenport, 31. Five alleged bookers were also named - Patricia Krupa, 32, Joanna Mercado, 24, Sylvia Soto, 29, Lina Vazquez, 24 and Barbara Morris, 48.

The charges include enterprise corruption, conspiracy and money laundering.

Meanwhile, Craigslist's chief executive is suing South Carolina's attorney general, claiming the prosecutor's threat to file prostitution charges against the San Francisco company is unreasonable.

CEO Jim Buckmaster said on his blog he wants a restraining order to keep Attorney General Henry McMaster from pursuing criminal charges.

McMaster said last week he would prosecute Craigslist executives for aiding and abetting prostitution if an ad on the site leads to a prostitution case in South Carolina. McMaster has said his office is investigating, but no charges have been brought.

In a statement, McMaster says the lawsuit shows Craigslist is taking his investigation seriously and called it a victory. The lawsuit was filed late Tuesday night in a federal court in South Carolina

[Dgunner]

YEATERDAY A ARTICLE POSTED BY cbs ON CARRYING LOADED GUNS IN NATIONAL PARK WAS POSTED FOR ONE DAY. THIS ARTICLE OF CRIME AND PROSTITUTION HAS RUN NEARLY A WEEK . THIS SPEAKS LOUDLY ABOUT THE MENTALITY OF CBS AND THIER EDITORS. IF IT ISNT MURDER WAR OR PUBLIC MASSACRE THEY RUN IT FOR POLITICAL FAVOR I ASSUME SINCE IT IS NOT HERE TODAY. WAY TO SHOW YOUR COLORS cbs..

[cbsnews_viewer]

Craigslist is just an simple posting board. I don't think they make any profit at all. (I could be wrong) I really do not think they can police it all that well until someone mails to complain, or if they do then it might cost money. Paying for it just isn't my style anyway, and I think it is a very WEAK way to even meet regular people, but I suppose others have different opinons. BUT WAIT A DANG MINUTE ISN"T THIS THE SAME NEW YORK WHERE THE GOVERNOR PAID BIG $$ for SEX while crusading against it and passing laws against the little man...AND CAUSE he was RICH , he DID NO JAIL TIME FOR IT...Eliott Spetzer, I think his name was. Well, anyway I am not for it...even if there is 2 types of justice, one for rich and one for the common man. Isn't Queens the mafia area, anyway?

[legacyabq]

what business is it of the government if two consenting adults make a private transaction. Outrageous interference by zealous christian moralizing self righteous idiots

lleave adults alone who are harming no other people

[novamba]

How do we penalize prostitution in a country where a woman's right to choose is protected by the supreme court? Isn't the act of prostituting oneself a choice on how to use one's body? Don't get me wrong, I don't endorse prostitution nor do I practice it, but the law seems to rule on the side of choice...Just a thought.

[stickdog3]

Hey lisawestvalley - holla at me girlfriend.

[ayatoldya]

What is the difference between a priest offering his services for a donation and a woman offering her services for a donation?

Answer: The woman isn't buggering your little boy behind the alter.

[lisawestvalley]

I've been in the sex industry for 30 years. Never had a pimp, never been approached by one to be represented. If I did drugs, it was of my own doing.

Stop the silly fantasy that all hookers have pimps. Bet if they did an honest poll, they'd find out half are regular women making ends meet. Maybe one third are into the drug or sleaze scene.

Yup, I could be an old lady now, but I'm still a market item for older men, who hate the naivety of younger women, but appreciate the reliability and experience of a mature vixen.

[tramplers]

I can walk up to a total stranger and ask them to have s*e*x and it'sd perfectly legal. If I make one small change and offer her money for sex, it's illegal. What's the difference? The same 2 people and the same act only now it's for money?

How about women that sleep with men just so they can get free gifts, they are just called girlfriends or wives. I am not saying that every woman sleeps with men for this reason but I'm sure alot do. They use s*e*x to get the things they want even in a relationship.

It's time to take a page from Nevada and leagalize it. Regulate it, provide a safe enviroment for it for both parties, and tax it. If two consenting adults want to do it for money, stay out of their business.

[presjfk]

"...There are THOUSANDS of web sites that cater ONLY TO PROSTITUTION ADVERTISING. Notice there is no crackdown on them? There is no MEDIA CIRCUS about those sites. There are no political PUBLICITY HOUNDS running around trying to shut them down...."---Posted by DefendLiberty

Like everything, the lawsuits and go where the money is...and craigslist is perceived as having lots of money. There is a price to pay for success in this country. That price are lawsuits. Of course lots of small companies get sued but not as often because there isn't the money to chase - and these lawsuits usually destroy the little guy who is forever silenced or at least swept away by the expense of it all.

[culturechang]

ayatoldya, your exactly right.

It's "a woman's body" with respect to abortion, but that same body suddenly becomes government property when it comes to prostitution or even pornography.....and its usually the same poeple (radical feminist) promoting this double standard.

[TryTakingMyMoney]

This issue is the last thing anyone should be worried about, particularly the government. First, it's none of your business what people do concerning sex (if of age). Pushing your religious or moral beliefs on someone should be against the law...not selling your body to survive. This has been going on since we crawled out of a cave and you will never stop it. Concentrate on keeping you own job and just mind your own business!

[tmittelstaed]

"...There are THOUSANDS of web sites that cater ONLY TO PROSTITUTION ADVERTISING. Notice there is no crackdown on them? There is no MEDIA CIRCUS about those sites. There are no political PUBLICITY HOUNDS running around trying to shut them down...."---Posted by DefendLiberty

The reason they aren't going after those thousands of sites is that they are waiting around to see if the MPAA/RIAA is able to succeed in it's "indexing" lawsuits.

Right now those orgs are doing everything they can to have it made illegal to publish a LINK to a copyrighted piece of music or software, even if the site publishing the link isn't hosting the pirated material itself.

If they succeed then they will force Google to pull every reference result in it's search engine that links to an illegally pirated movie or sound file..

And if they succeed then right on the MPAA/RIAA's heels will be the state AG's telling Google and Yahoo and MSN to pull every link that leads to a prostitution website based on the same legal reasoning.

[babooph]

At least what they were selling was theirs,preachers should be the illegal ones.

[tmittelstaed]

This is great news. Craigslist's erotic section was great back in the days when it was just a bunch of singles and couples looking to have s e x with each other just for good, clean (well rather squishy I guess) FREE fun. It was a lot better than the local meat rack bar scene.

Once the pimps and hookers got involved it just ruined it, and drove off all the swingers and h o r n e y people just looking to get their rocks off, and then all the mafia, gangs, and money and drugs moved in to replace them.

[aka_KJB]

Ladies & Gentlemen, meet the latest whipping boy for media hungry politicians: Craigslist. It seems that all any AG in the country that wants a few column inches or some face time has to do is mention the website and suddenly it's a national story. If it was such big deal, why weren't they cracking down on this years ago? It's not like it just started happening in the past six months. Oh, right, they've got moron who happened to use Craigslist to set up meetings to rob the hookers and he wound up killing one. Therefore, everyone in that section of Craigslist is either a prostitute or a potential serial killer. Go pull the sticks out of you a$$e$ and prosecute people who are actually committing crimes in your states, like the insurance companies, payday loan offices and other forms of lowlife scum that are preying on people who already don't have enough money to go around. Morons.

[DefendLiberty]

Why does the mainstream media persist in emphasizing the "Craigslist" part of the story? It's a lot more SINISTER than you think.

Craigslist has been sucking ADVERTISING REVENUE from the mainstream media. It offers FREE or low cost advertising that replaces CLASSIFIED ADS. The media conglomerates are LOSING MONEY because Craigslist is providing an affordable alternative to the MONOPOLY that the newspapers (owned by the big media companies) have enjoyed.

There is nothing that the mainstream media would love better than KILLING CRAIGSLIST so they can get you to pay $100 a day for an ad that you can place on Craigslist for almost nothing (not to mention the IMMEDIACY of Craigslist ads).

There IS a reason the media is trying to tie Craigslist to PROSTITUTION. It's simply GREED.

Here's the proof: There are THOUSANDS of web sites that cater ONLY TO PROSTITUTION ADVERTISING. Notice there is no crackdown on them? There is no MEDIA CIRCUS about those sites. There are no political PUBLICITY HOUNDS running around trying to shut them down. 99% of CRAIGSLIST ADS are LEGITIMATE ads that would be in newspapers if the newspapers were not so friggin expensive.

[chyenna-2009]

mrs_trepidatious As usual, you want to force your twisted beliefs on everyone else by force of law. There is no Jesus and there is no God. Get over it, or condemn yourself to a life of eternal stupidity. What if your beliefs become illegal (not a bad idea) you would be in prison forever. (another good idea)
Posted by Slrman at 10:55 AM :

Prostitution should never be legalized There is a God and Jesus, and the only place I will spend eternity is in Heaven

13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

[DefendLiberty]

Political grandstanding. Prostitution busts are the easiest and most press-grabbing. Politicians love them (until caught in a sting). Prosecutors get their names in the paper, and NOTHING CHANGES.

Prosecuting prostitution is a waste of resources. How about investigating and prosecuting the thousands of UNSOLVED MURDERS, RAPES, and ASSAULTS that are sitting on the desks of these useless and spineless prosecutors? I hope Cuomo gets thrown out of office. Let him pal around with his CHRISTIAN TALIBAN supporters.

[stickdog3]

I love it when these people get on TV and wax poetic about the dangers of prostituion and how evil it is. Than go home to Lucille, who pushes him away at nite and retorts "I told you once a month" next you know the crime fighter goes out signs up with a escort service that he just vowed on TV to prosecute, and gets caught up in a sting. What a wonderful World.

[ayatoldya]

If a woman supposedly has control over her body, then why can't she legally rent it out for prostitution? Why must government control what a woman can and cannot do with her body?

It is time that laws based on religious customs and beliefs be removed from the books as long as it does not create harm or endanger innocent people.