Craigslist LAW ENFORCEMENT heads up!

[JamesK840]

I had recently written how much more activity/selection there was on Craig's List LA Erotic services recently, sadly I just got an interesting email that may explain some of it:

 

>>

i remember you originally replied to a craiglist post. do not reply to any craigslist post ever again, from me or anyone. the police actively use craiglist to bust those posting and those responding to the post. lets just say i recently have first hand knowledge of this!!! sucks!!! plesae, be careful and tell your friends.

<<

 

That may be a touch paranoid, but at the least you need to be very careful! Remember you are never offering money for anything more then time, and if anything seems off listen to your gut and bail!

 

This pertains to Craig's List LA (though people in other cities should take note), and is only referring to the donation / help / sugardady / $ type ads. No reason at all one couldn't continue to have a lot of fun in the M4M personals section with posts that don't have any dollar-signs instead of the letter S...

 

Last thought... he mentions not being able to trust posts appearing to be from him, that they may be used to entrap clients... that could happen on here too...

[+ deej]

OY!

 

I've said it before: if you're worried about being caught doing something you hadn't oughtta be doing, DON'T DO IT.

 

This email would actually fit the MO of our pal Cupcake, if you think about it. Post a bunch of possibles, collect responders, and then inflict as much fear as possible.

 

The alert level should be no higher today than it is any other day. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And if it sounds like something you're afraid to be caught doing, don't do it.

[JamesK840]

>This email would actually fit the MO of our pal Cupcake, if

>you think about it. Post a bunch of possibles, collect

>responders, and then inflict as much fear as possible.

>

>The alert level should be no higher today than it is any other

>day.

 

Except this is a guy I've been with, who I met through CL.

 

The minimum people should take from this is that LE is working on busting providers through CL and that clients shouldn't let their guards down wherever they hire.

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

Well, it is reassuring to see that the LAPD is keeping busy whle on the clock. Serious crime stats must be way down. Good news all around. :o

[JamesK840]

Just wanted to give this a BUMP going into the weekend, it is serious and I know at least one other MC regular who had hooked up with the guy I posted about...

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Business IS Booming!!!

 

>Well, it is reassuring to see that the LAPD is keeping busy

>whle on the clock. Serious crime stats must be way down.

>Good news all around.

 

As I have frequently mentioned in some of the comments to any number of threads to which Little Woody has chimed in, enforcement has a lot to do with geography. The Los Angeles Police Department, in spite of the fact that they recently presented a ballot measure to increase sales taxes in the county and city which they claimed would go for more personnel, certainly have proven themselves to have sufficient time and resources to both entrapt gay men simply looking for sex and to go after other "victimless" crimes, such as escorting.

 

In their measure for the sales tax increase, a commercial was used of a young mother with a young child calling 911 in fear during a break-in. The implied threat, of course, was that the mother and child would be dead before the police even got to respond, due to the lack of personnel. The sherrif in Los Angeles County even started to prematurely release convicts from the county jails last year, claiming that there was not enough money in the budget to keep them incarcerated.

 

The additional implication in this campaign was that this tax increase would put that many more officers on the streets. Of course, nothing in the actual ballot measure stated the money could not go to fully fund the retirement plan or for salary increases of existing officers. I certainly believe that the police and sherrif should be well compensated, but I do not believe this kind of fear tactics should be used for votes.

 

The L.A.P.D. has been luring men who live and are cruising in West Hollywood into areas which are actually their jurisdiction and arresting them for soliciting a sex act (not for pay, simply for allegedly requesting sex from another consensual adult). This is the same L.A.P.D. that used to routinely arrest gay men leaving bar and accusing them of vagrancy and other acts, including sex acts, and keeping them in jail for one or more days. They also routinely respond to and post ads in Frontiers and other public places to entrap both escort and the clients.

 

Here is a timely article indirectly related to this issue that you all should find of interest: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/03/features-ehrenreich.php

 

 

http://www.gaydar.co.uk/francodisantis

[Guest zipperzone]

RE: Business IS Booming!!!

 

>Here is a timely article indirectly related to this issue that

>you all should find of interest:

>http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/03/features-ehrenreich.php

 

I read the article with a growing sense of horror.

 

My first reaction was "Only in America" but I'm sure it could happen elsewhere too. And I'd be willing to bet that if "W" had his say on the matter - not a damn thing would change.

[guyinsf]

RE: Business IS Booming!!!

 

I'm a little confused. I read the article. It was indeed interesting, but for those who haven't read it, it deals with the sex offender registration laws and problems related to people being told they must register as sex offenders for "sex crimes" committed many years ago which are not viewed as crimes today (ie, consensual gay sex between adults). This, of course, is a separate matter from the practice of police today attempting to entrap gay men.

 

What has me confused, Franco, is your statement about cops from other jurisdictions luring men from West Hollywood to their own turfs so they can arrest them for soliciting consensual, unpaid sex. I thought that consensual gay sex between adults was legal in all of California. What are the charges that these gay men are actually facing? Are they agreeing to have sex in public places and then getting arrested for public indecency? Are they being entrapped with totally bogus charges like the guy in the New York City case? I just don't see how a gay man chatting with someone in a WeHo bar agreeing to go to someone's home in Torrance to have consensual sex could be arrested once he's in Torrance unless there was some prostitution or public decency charge.

[woodlawn]

RE: Business IS Booming!!!

 

>As I have frequently mentioned in some of the comments to any

>number of threads to which Little Woody has chimed in,

 

I understand that as a chubby, middle-aged man trying to make a living as an escort Franco has a lot of frustration that he takes out on other people by making hateful remarks. What I don't understand, having seen pictures of him naked, is why he would ever call anyone else "little."

 

>enforcement has a lot to do with geography.

 

Here's something else I don't understand. He keeps making this comment over and over and over again. But what, if anything, does it mean? By almost any measure, Los Angeles is one of the most politically liberal cities in America. If cops there are going to great lengths to try to "entrapt" gay men, what are the cops in cities like Tulsa, Birmingham, Fort Worth, and Charlotte doing -- shooting gay men on sight?

 

It's true that in America, enforcement of laws against prostitution is left to local law enforcement agencies. That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that in more liberal communities there is much less enforcement and in more conservative ones there is much more enforcement. I've never seen any evidence that that is true. If anyone has any, please do go ahead and share it with us.

[VaHawk]

RE: Business IS Booming!!!

 

DAMN!!!!!!!! This post alone, is why it is a TRUE pleasure to be associated, at least marginally, with a site that has a well-respected member post such an observation! Thanks woodlawn!

[SoCal]

Just wanted to bump this up to the top and see if there were any more comments or rececent experience re:Law Enforcement and Craigslist? I meet guys from Craiglist around twice a month, and yes I DO respond to the ads asking for "generou$" and other dollar signs sprinkled here and there!:-)

 

While I have never had a problem, and never heard of trouble from 2-3 others I've spoken with who use Craigslist, I do take the warning seriously, I respect JamesK840's view, and feel the need to be a bit more careful.

 

I'm a pretty savvy client - and always listen to my sixth sense. But does anyone have any hints of red flags, etc. when talking to a new potential hire?

[JamesK840]

I have only heard it from one guy I'd hired through CL (though I'm not in contact with that many previous ones; I'd always figured they'd moved on, but now I wonder if maybe one or more were busted...) but have been extra cautious in hiring since then.

 

Unfortunately the guy I recently hired was oblivious to my feeling out what he liked to do and then being very specific I was only hiring him for a massage, but as you can see in the Deli he was worth the effort and he knows a little more now. (I'm still amazed when people think asking "Are you a cop?" does anything)

 

There's still fun to be had on CL (though the fucking flag wars where anything from an escort is flagged out of M4M and anything with a dick pic is flagged out of Erotic Services is getting really old), and I haven't seen any posts since the warning that purported to be from the escort who warned me, but caution is advised.

 

It does suck that being explicit is important for having a good time and at the same time being vague is important for staying safe...

[ErikMcAlister]

RE: Business IS Booming!!!

 

"I thought that consensual gay sex between adults was legal in all of California. What are the charges that these gay men are actually facing?"

 

So far as I could find in the Cal Penal Code, it would only be chargeable if the solicitation was for the commission of a crime. For example: soliciting someone to have sex in public or exposed to public view would make someone guilty of the misdemeanor of disorderly conduct under Cal Penal Code section 647(a).

Unless it is in public (647(a)) or is solicitation of prostitution (647(b)), or solicitation of a minor (288), I wasn't able to find anything making it criminal. Of course, someone who knows Cal law could have better information.

[Swiss Lumber]

Last month, I hooked up with a black trainer who was trying to raise some holiday funds. It was less than delightful but, oh my, he has one huge tool.