SAN FRANCISCO -- Online classified ads service Craigslist says it will dump the "erotic services" category that law enforcement officials have called a front for prostitution and replace it with a fee-based adult category that will be reviewed by site employees. As of Wednesday, postings to the erotic category were no longer being accepted. In seven days, the category will be removed, Craigslist said.
The sex-service listings have faced intense scrutiny following the death last month of a masseuse who advertised on Craigslist in Boston. Boston University student Philip Markoff, 23, was charged with the killing and with attacks on two other women he met through Craigslist.
Tabloids called Markoff "the Craigslist killer. That followed the sentencing last month of a Minnesota man convicted of killing a woman who replied to a babysitting ad on Craigslist. The year-old site generates more than 20 billion page views per month in 50 countries. Its listings cover everything from apartments to jobs. The private San Francisco-based company does not comment on its revenue.
Most ads on the site are posted without review. In a lawsuit filed in March, Cook County Ill. Sheriff Tom Dart called the erotic category the "largest source of prostitution in America. Last week, the attorneys general of Illinois, Connecticut and Missouri met with Craigslist officials to put an end to what they claim were ads for illegal sexual activities.
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