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Mike Cox Claims Victory in Adult Service Ad Removal, ‘Casual Encounters’ Still Available

(Crystal A. Proxmire)


LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today hailed the decision by the national classifieds website Craigslist to remove its "Adult Services" section. The ads were pulled just days after Attorney General Cox, along with a coalition of attorneys general, made a new, forceful appeal calling on Craigslist founder Craig Newmark to pull the ads, which have enabled prostitution and the sexual exploitation of minors through the Internet.

 

"The removal of adult services ads from Craigslist is a great victory that will help keep children safe online," said Cox. "Internet predators hunt for new victims every day, but thanks to the efforts of my office and other attorneys general, they are on notice that their efforts to use the Internet for criminal activity will not be tolerated." Craigslist's decision to pull "Adult Services" ads came after months of public pressure from law enforcement, advocacy groups, and public officials, including the Michigan Attorney General's office. An August 24, 2010, letter signed by Cox called on Craigslist to pull its Adult Services ads to assist efforts by law enforcement to crack down on child prostitution and other criminal activity.

A previous undercover investigation by Cox's office revealed serious questions about Craigslist's efforts to confront child exploitation and other criminal activity. The 2009 investigation exposed Craiglist's lack of effort to police ads placed on its site when undercover agents, posing as a boy, parent, and teacher, contacted Craigslist officials asking for help with a suspected child sex predator encountered on Craigslist. The undercover agents reported inappropriate behavior conducted on Craigslist, but were ignored or merely received an automated response from Craigslist. Additionally, that investigation by Cox's office resulted in the Attorney General's seventh Craigslist-related arrest. A former teacher and school administrator was charged with one count of Child Sexually Abusive Activity (a 20-year felony), one count of Using the Internet to commit Child Sexually Abusive Activity (a 20-year felony), and one count of Using the Internet to commit Disseminating Sexually Explicit Matter to a Minor (a four-year felony). Undercover investigators arrested the man after he asked who he thought was a 14-year-old boy to meet for sex.

 

Since 2003, Cox's Internet Predator Unit has arrested 258 Internet predators, including those who used Craigslist to commit crimes. "To keep our children safe from Internet predators, we need both aggressive enforcement and comprehensive education for children and parents. My office is committed to continuing to work hard on both fronts," said Cox.

The Attorney General's office was instrumental in working with MySpace and Facebook to remove predators and protect children on these social networking websites. In 2008, Cox signed separate agreements with MySpace and Facebook. Among the conditions in these agreements, the social networking websites committed to responding to complaints within 72 hours, providing more staff to review photographs, and removing inappropriate material, such as pornographic pictures and links. The Attorney General's office continues to monitor various websites for signs of illegal activities. Cox also created the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (Michigan CSI), a national award-winning Internet safety education curriculum already taught to more than half a million children in schools across Michigan. Michigan CSI teaches children the "do"s and "don't"s of the Internet and provides tools to parents for talking with their children about Internet safety.

 

For more information about Michigan CSI or to schedule a free educational seminar at a school in your community, visit www.michigan.gov/csi.  To view ads on Craigslist in the Detroit area go to http://detroit.craigslist.org.  Though Adult Services has been removed, the site still has several pages dedicated to helping consenting adults connect.