Officials say Craigslist is still allowing ads selling sex

CHICAGO -- Two months after Craigslist promised to rid itself of advertisements placed by prostitutes, law enforcement officials say the online classified ad site is still in the business of selling sex.

From a sheriff who has no intention of dropping his lawsuit to an attorney general who suggests that he and colleagues could further pressure the company to crack down on online prostitution, they say they are not through with Craigslist.

"It makes me wonder, do they really think I'm sort of stupid, some bobblehead who will think they changed it?" said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who sued the San Francisco-based company earlier this year, calling it the nation's largest source of prostitution. "They seem to insist on being cute and playing games (and) it's getting old."

Dart and others acknowledge that when the popular site pulled the plug on its "erotic services" category and replaced it with a new "adult services" section, it did away with the most graphic photographs.

But they say there is no mistaking that sex is still being sold on the site. Ad after ad include photographs of scantily clad women in suggestive poses. Many offer massages or undefined services — "Just imagine what we could do," reads one; "Your wife or girlfriend won't do this for you, but we will," reads another — with listing prices that vary depending on how much time is required.

In an e-mail, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster dismissed Dart's lawsuit as a publicity stunt.

"The citizens of Cook County would arguably be better served if their sheriff spent his time addressing actual crime, rather than using the courts to generate personal publicity," he wrote.

Craigslist announced the changes in May amid mounting criticism of the ads and pressure to do something about them, which grew when a Boston-area area man was accused of fatally shooting a woman who placed an ad on the site.

In addition to eliminating the "erotic services" category, Craigslist promised to pre-screen all submissions to the new section and charge a fee.