They removed the "erotic services" section from my states CL over a year ago.  I think all the WG's migrated to backpage.com

Craigslist says shutdown of adult services permanent
Chris Lefkow
September 16, 2010 - 11:29AM
               
Craigslist, breaking nearly two weeks of silence, said Wednesday that the shutdown of the "adult services" section at the online classifieds website in the United States was permanent.
Craigslist removed adult services ads on September 3 following months of pressure from state law enforcement officials and some advocacy groups who charged that they facilitated prostitution.
But the quirky San Francisco-based website had declined until Wednesday to provide an explanation for the abrupt removal of adult services ads or say if it was permanent.

In an appearance before a congressional committee looking into the sexual trafficking of minors, William Powell, a Craigslist director, said the site had "no plans to reinstate the category."
"Those who formerly posted ads in the adult services category will now have to advertise elsewhere," Powell, Craigslist's director of customer service and law enforcement relations, told the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
Powell said the shutdown of the adult services section applied only to the United States at the moment and that erotic services categories remained on Craigslist sites in other countries, including Canada.
"It's my understanding that there are a number of issues country by country as well as legal issues for that," Powell said, stressing that "97 percent of our viewers and use are in the United States and Canada."
Elizabeth McDougall, a counsel to Craigslist on online safety and security, said the site was working with the Canadian authorities but there had been no request from Canada to remove adult services ads there.
"They are a sovereign nation," she told the committee. "We don't believe that it's appropriate for the US policy to dictate what Canada's policy should be with respect to the Craigslist website and adult services."
Craigslist shut down the link to its adult services section on September 3, replacing it with the single world "censored."
The "censored" tag was removed a few days later and the adult services section of Craigslist.org -- which offers users free and paid advertising for everything from houses to babysitters to furniture for sale -- disappeared.
Powell and McDougall stressed the efforts Craigslist has made to monitor adult services ads, including pre-screening of all submissions and working with state attorney generals, law enforcement and advocacy groups.
"Craigslist has been one of the few bright spots and success stories in the critical fight against trafficking and child exploitation," Powell said.
"It is our sincere hope that law enforcement and advocacy groups will find helpful partners" at other sites which offer adult services ads, he said.
Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said removing adult services ads on Craigslist was a "positive and constructive step" but "the problem is much wider than Craigslist."
Nicholas Sensley, chief of police of Truckee, California, agreed, saying Craigslist is "only one of many" sites offering adult services ads and "to their credit, not nearly the worst."
Link here:
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking- ... 20100916-15de5.html

Now that they've taken down craiglist, it looks like they're starting in on the smaller players. I wonder who's bankrolling this law suit.

Mo. girl sues Village Voice Media over sex ads
ST. LOUIS —
A girl who ran away from home and became a prostitute at age 14 is suing Village Voice Media, accusing the newspaper conglomerate of knowingly allowing her pimp to advertise her sexual services on one of its companies' websites.
The lawsuit, which does not name the plaintiff, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and seeks at least $150,000 in damages.
The girl's pimp,
Jewell McFarland, 27, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in federal court earlier this month and could face up to five years in prison at sentencing on Dec. 1. Prosecutors say the girl ran away from her St. Louis home and met McFarland in 2009.
They say McFarland persuaded the girl to work as a prostitute by telling her she could earn $100 for each sex act, and that McFarland took half the proceeds. McFarland admitted she posted nude photos of the girl online, bought condoms, arranged meetings and drove the teen to hotels. Prosecutors said she also encouraged the teen to go to parties where men would pay for sex with multiple women.
In her lawsuit, the girl claims that backpage.com, a website similar to Craigslist that is owned by Village Voice Media, knew prostitution was being facilitated on the site but did nothing to stop it. She contends items advertising sex with her were posted on the site.
The girl's attorney, Robert Pedroli, said other lawsuits over online sex ads have failed because the Communications Decency Act says online content providers are not responsible for what others post. But he said this lawsuit takes a different approach, alleging that websites like backpage.com provide a "safe house" for pimps and customers to arrange child prostitution.
"We're alleging they absolutely know that prostitution is on the website, that minors are being posted on the website," Pedroli said.
Phoenix-based Village Voice Media did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Craigslist shut down its adult services section under pressure from state attorneys general who were concerned that it was being used to promote prostitution.
The Rebecca Project for Human Rights was among the groups pressuring Craigslist to block adult services ads. Executive director Malika Saada Saar said Friday that the St. Louis girl's story is far too common.
"If these sites do not see their obligation to protecting children, there ought to be a legal approach," she said. "When we have children being sold online for sex at legitimate websites, this is a human rights issue."
In addition to backpage.com, Village Voice Media operates 14 alternative publications, including the Village Voice in New York and the Riverfront Times in St. Louis.
Link here:
http://www.in.com/news/current-a ... 369c4074ae-rhp.html