LYNNWOOD — Police said they arrested 15 people Friday night in a Craigslist escort sting at a Lynnwood hotel.
Lynnwood police working with Everett police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 10 women, ages 17 to 47, for investigation of prostitution. They also arrested five men on suspicion of promoting prostitution and on other vice charges, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Sessions said.
The arrests were made at the Lynnwood hotel in an effort to put a dent into illegal escort services advertised on the Craigslist Web site, Sessions said.
Craigslist operates classified advertising Web sites around the world.
The Internet site allows advertisements for erotic services, similar to the ads found in some newspapers and yellow pages. On Monday, hundreds of ads were listed on Craigslist offering dates in Snohomish County.
“There’s an erotic section on this Web site and while most Web sites don’t want it to be blatant sex-for-sale, some of the ads are blatant, and others have innuendo that let viewers know that it’s sex-for-sale,” Sessions said.
In Friday night’s sting, officers responded to ads in an effort to lure suspects to the hotel to make arrests.
According to the San Francisco company’s Web site, it doesn’t charge for erotic listings. People who post ads on the Web site must agree to the company’s terms of service, which prohibits illegal activity or solicitations for illegal activity, the Web site said.
“Illegal activity is not welcome,” the company said. “But where legal conduct between consenting adults is concerned we feel it is important to err on the side of respecting free speech and privacy rights.”
The site is community monitored, the Web site said, meaning the company relies on people who use the site to bring suspicious postings to its attention.
“Misuse of Craigslist for illegal purposes is unacceptable,” company spokeswoman Susan Best said in an e-mail statement. “The incidence of crime on Craigslist is actually very low, considering the tens of millions of ads that are posted each month. And together with Craigslist users and law enforcement, we are working continually to eliminate it.”
Police here have conducted similar sting operations after hotel managers complained. This time, the sting was done when detectives noticed an increase in activity on Craigslist, Sessions said.
“After following up on Craigslist activity from our last multijurisdictional sting in November 2007, we determined there was a need for another investigation,” she said. “We found there were still a significant number of ads having an overtone of sex for sale in south Snohomish County.”
Last November, Lynnwood police arrested seven women in a similar sting. The year before, Everett police used the same tactic, trolling Craigslist for women and girls engaged in prostitution. The women allegedly agreed to meet the undercover officers for “dates” and were arrested when they met the officers at a hotel and asked for money in exchange for sex.
On Friday, undercover agents again set up the meetings and the women were arrested after they agreed to have sex for money.
“Once the words are spoken, the arrest is made,” Sessions said. The officers did not engage in sexual activity.
Two of the 10 women arrested were under 18, Sessions said. The women and girls were from all over the Puget Sound area, including Edmonds, Everett, Kirkland, Mukilteo, Renton and Seattle. One of the five men arrested also is under federal investigation.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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