Posted on 11/12/2005 12:41:02 PM PST by martin_fierro
Mom Arrested For Offering Toddler For Sex On Web
POSTED: 6:26 am PST November 11, 2005 UPDATED: 9:18 am PST November 12, 2005
MARTINEZ -- A 22-year-old Martinez mother has been arrested after police say she allegedly offered her four-year-old child for $500 to sexual predators surfing the Internet in a Craigslist web personal ad.
Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a posting that was soliciting for prostitution, said Martinez police Detective Gary Peterson.
After a person who is not involved in law enforcement contacted Shannon Nicole Woods online, Woods agreed to meet the person for sex, said Peterson.
During the online conversation between Woods and the other person "there was an inquiry about the child and the person offered $500 for sex with the kid and (Woods) did not object to that," said Peterson.
Authorities then served a search warrant at a residence in the 200 block of Thistle Circle and placed Woods into custody on Tuesday.
Police have seized a laptop computer, several videotapes and CDs and investigators are trying to determine whether they include information indicating the child was involved in sex solicitation, according to Peterson.
Woods was booked into the Contra Costa County Main Detention Facility on suspicion of offering a minor under 16 for lewd and lascivious acts. She is being held on a $50,000 warrant and is scheduled to appear in court in Martinez on Monday, said Peterson.
Woods is also the mother of a week-old daughter. Both children are in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark said today this case marks the first time "this variation" of solicitation for sex has happened on the Web site, though he is not familiar with the exact posting under investigation.
When people complain about any of the thousands of postings on Craigslist, "We jump on it immediately," said Newmark. He added he is one of 18 staff members at Craigslist and that he handles two-thirds of e-mail complaints personally.
The site is primarily "self-policing" and users regularly flag postings that look like they may violate site rules.
"We're among the best on the Web at handling this kind of thing," Newmark said, explaining that Craigslist has reviewed with police across the country, the FBI and the Secret Service how to deal with criminal solicitations online. "They like how we handle things," he said.
Because Craigslist is a free online community of thousands of users, said Newmark, "We try to deal the best we can with the bad guys while respecting the whole Bill of Rights thing."
No doubt Family services will give her a parenting course and send the kid back to her!
Beyond disgusting.
Another case for the death penalty.
On-the-spot execution. Blam, dead. Nuff said.
Can I handle this one? I got a nice set of power tools I'd like to try out...
No different from Clinton pimping his wife by saying Hillary would make a better president. Beyond disgusting...both cases.
Perversion is not a family family.
I go to Craigslist and get into the Politics section (under the Community heading).
You get to read some interesting things there. Some of it is really funny.
Don't underestimate the possibility that this scheme was planted by the WaPost or NYT. They are being destroyed by craigslist's policy of free classified ads. Classified ads are traditionally 1/2 of newspaper revenue and craigslist is a huge reason why WaPost and NYT are seeing their budgets collapse.
It's far more likely that it's true. Check out the "Services, Erotic" section in San Francisco, for example -- it's unabashed open solicitation for prostitution, complete with explicit descriptions, prices, and even pictures. "Self-policing" my ass.
Maybe, but we must support craigslist and encourage it to grow. It truly is destroying liberal print media. Let's keep that ball rolling.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.