New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
Prosecutors, police and criminal defense attorneys in NY have known for a long time that prostitution, unlicensed massage, and other crimes relating to escort services have flourished on Craigslist. Due to pressure by numerous states and law enforcement agencies, Craigslist will no longer be permitting prostitution and escort services to be blatantly advertised on their website without scrutiny.
According to media reports, Craigslist executives informed Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal that the “erotic services” section would be removed in approximately one week and it would be replaced with an “adult services” section. Moreover, each advertisement will be reviewed by Craiglist to prevent the further proliferation of prostitution and escort related activities and materials.
Attorney General Blumenthal also noted that “[law enforcement] will be monitoring closely to make sure that this measure is more than a name change from ‘erotic’ to ‘adult’ and that the manual blocking is tough and effective to scrub prostitution and pornography…Our continuing investigation will assure that these steps are substance, not just spin, and that Craigslist really shuts down its open online red light district.”
The change in policy is no surprise to the experienced NY criminal defense attorneys at Saland Law PC. Having seen crimes actually perpetrated and allegedly committed using the internet as a vehicle, the former prosecutors at Saland Law PC saw the writing on the wall for Craigslist and other online classified sites. How the online escort trade, like any illegal activity, will re-invent itself has yet to be seen. Whatever form it takes, law enforcement will continue to pursue those believed to be responsible.
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