A prostitution sting on the Seacoast netted an arrest Saturday as police cracked down on the online sex trade. Portsmouth police spent a week monitoring activity on Craigslist. Less than half an hour after Portsmouth police contacted a prostitute through the Web site, they made an arrest. The Portsmouth police special investigations unit organized the sting after tracking more than a dozen posts from people offering erotic services in the Seacoast region.
Another woman responded to the call and was detained, but police did not have enough evidence to arrest her. She called herself an escort, and that's the way she operated," Arnold said. Corey MacDonald said these stings are a priority because prostitution brings other crime into town: "Drugs, violence, a lot of times, violence against the women who are putting those ads out, theft, we've had all those calls right here in Portsmouth.
Police said the woman they arrested was a year-old who admitted she began selling herself to make ends meet. Investigators said they hope arrests like this one act as a deterrent, but with online venues like Craigslist, it can be difficult to stop.
Police said if some of the state laws regarding prostitution were tightened up, they probably would have been able to arrest the second woman who came to the sting.
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