A Tampa woman, a "mature courtesan,'' offers a "girlfriend experience'' and "light sensual domination'' on a national escort Web site. Customers can click on more than reviews of her performance, including this from one man: "she is an expert at the art of making love and I will be back. Many ads such as these are a front for prostitution, say local police, and they're proliferating on the Internet.
One reason: Police face increasing public pressure to catch child pornographers and pedophiles who operate on the Web. At the same time, prosecutions of organized online prostitution have failed in the past, making law enforcement officials skittish about spending taxpayer dollars for little return. But you're talking about a misdemeanor violation and the type of investigation you'd have to do in terms of manpower, it's very costly.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office discovered that four years ago when it tried to bring down Bigdoggie. Detectives then called the Tampa-based Web site a "worldwide Internet prostitution ring. The arrest of the site's operators and about a dozen escorts on 57 charges, including racketeering, conspiracy and prostitution, made headlines nationwide. But the case, which took detectives more than a year to put together, unraveled inside a Tampa courtroom in a matter of months.
Operation Flea Collar cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars and culminated with all charges being dropped against 13 defendants except for a few minor prostitution charges. Police had hoped the case would become the standard for future prosecutions, a way to bring down the escort malls that have popped up all over the Internet. It is not illegal to advertise sex on the Internet or receive money to be an escort; it only becomes illegal when sex is traded for money.
Investigators today, however, are having to go after Internet prostitutes the way they do street walkers: one by one. More and more women and men are starting to use the Internet as a tool. It's easier. In fact, nothing is easier in this criminal life. On March 13, , a year-old engineer arrived at a Tampa hotel room to meet with an escort named Lia Nice, police reports show. When he asked for oral sex, police arrested him.
