From internet predators to online scams, the World Wide Web has it all. But there's something new out there you need to know about…online prostitution. It’s happening on many different websites, but authorities say Craigslist is the most popular. Craigslist is a well-known site, similar to Ebay, where people can go online and sell or buy just about anything. But instead of selling used furniture, or household items, they’re selling themselves under the “erotic services” category on www.craigslist.com.
Shreveport Police caught on the prostitution in cyberspace and they’ve been conducting under cover operations for about 2 years. Captain Mark Holley says, “They'll list what towns and where there going be at what cities they're going to be at, times and dates.” Holley says most of the time the prostitutes are just traveling through Shreveport; making their ‘rounds. A spokesperson for Craigslist says, “The company says, “Craigslist is a community-moderated site, and while we have neither the capacity nor the obligation to manually review each of the more than 30 million free postings submitted each month, our staff does remove prohibited content when brought to our attention.
Sex and the Internet have been connected almost since the first website but authorities say, prostitution is spreading online like never before. So far this year, Shreveport Police have arrested 146 prostitutes, more than 20 of them were soliciting sex over the internet.