One of the top classifieds sites in the United States has been accused of being «the biggest source of prostitution» in the country by Thomas Dart, chief of police in Cook County, Illinois.
The official stressed during a press conference in Chicago that the popular North American website hosted, last year, more than 2800 advertisements for child prostitution.
«Children or people who have run away from home, women who are victims of sexual abuse or foreigners who are victims of trafficking in human beings are regularly forced to have sex with strangers», stressed the Cook County sheriff referring that these are «the main victims of Craigslist’s pimp network «.
Based on the investigations, a complaint was filed against the classifieds website asking for a ban on any type of ad «referring to erotic services».
Craigslist officials say they have not been notified but that «misuse» of the platform «to facilitate criminal activity is unacceptable» so they will continue to join forces to prevent «such incidents».
The complaint comes four months after the platform has been the subject of a similar complaint. At the time, those responsible undertook to implement protection measures against that type of content.
Thomas Dart says that so far no barriers have been placed on prostitution ads and that, so far, more than 200 arrests have been made related to the services published on the website.
