Sex Ads Still Populate SC Websites
“Times are tough. I’m in college and my parents jus(t) got laid off. Money is tight, but lucky for me… so am I.”
Such is the straight-to-the-point, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination pitch offered by 19-year-old “Lauren,” one of literally hundreds of female “escorts” who offers her erotic services on various South Carolina websites each and every day.
Why is this news?
Well, last month Backpage.com – the company that hosts Lauren’s ad – unexpectedly found itself in the thick of a political battle when it was thrown under the proverbial bus by its much more famous online classifieds rival, Craigslist.
In one of the company’s more effective jabs against grandstanding S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, Craigslist pointed out that Backpage was hosting ads that were “quite explicit, quoting prices for specific sex acts, featuring close-ups of bare genitalia, etc.”
In other words, ads that were far more graphic and overt than anything Craigslist had been running.
Why was McMaster suing Craigslist and not other websites?
The conclusion was unmistakable – McMaster was targeting Craigslist for no other reason than the national headlines generated by Philip Markoff, the alleged “Craigslist killer.”
That exchange was one of many body blows absorbed by McMaster during this extended public relations debacle – a failed case that has damaged his political future and caused South Carolina national embarassment, not to mention created the perception of a “safe haven” for any sex ad that’s not affiliated with Craigslist.
After all, it’s not just Backpage that’s still running ads for sex in South Carolina.
In addition to ignoring all other national sex ad providers, McMaster has also shown zero interest in targeting South Carolina-based “erotic service” advertisers (and providers), particularly those located in the tourist-heavy Grand Strand area of the state.
Will McMaster step up and start targeting those websites?
Social conservatives say they’re ready for the law to be enforced, but stopped short of criticizing McMaster.
“I think what we need to do is enforce the state law,” said Oran Smith of the Palmetto Family Council, a leading social conservative advocacy group. “Some appeals court may weigh in eventually, but I think we need to take a look at the state law, analyze it as best we can and see who’s violating it and who isn’t.”
As for McMaster’s ill-fated crusade against Craigslist, Smith says it was “a risk” and that McMaster’s office has “taken on several things that weren’t sure winners” in the past.
He did acknowledge that “the chips didn’t all fall” the way McMaster would have liked, but added that he couldn’t find “a whole lot to criticize about the way he’s handled it.”
“From what I can tell, the good minds at the S.C. Attorney General’s office have looked at these sites and determined that they are violating the law,” Smith said. “I don’t think the Attorney General has been incredibly over the top. I think any law enforcement agency from the days of Eliot Ness to the cops working in West Columbia today have to pick their battles, and while I wasn’t privy to what was going on behind the scenes he clearly picked out someone to go after.”
Which begs the question, is he going to go after anyone else?
Because as far as we can tell, McMaster’s people have been quieter than church mice following the Craiglist debacle.
Comments
By CNSYD on June 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
WHAT? I am SHOCKED to learn sex is for sale in SC! When did this happen? I am sure it has never ever occurred before. I know there was never a Sunset Lodge outside of Georgetown or a Dixie Hotel in Greenville.
By Fashizzle on June 10th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Perhaps the more important point is the foolishness of criminalizing behavior that occurs between two consenting adults in the first place. Morality laws have always been selectively enforced and used to target enemies rather than to benefit society.
These laws still criminalize cohabitation, and lets not forget until a generation ago it was a crime for an interracial couple to marry. Until Smith and his “lets enforce existing law” types call for the arrest of live-in boyfriends they are pandering hypocrites.
By Craigslist Proxy on June 10th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I do not post too much, but this was a good read. Craigslist never ceases to amaze me. There was this post about a guy who was going to buy a car for his gf, and he came across an ad with Hitler hidden text… Very odd. That is Craigslist…
By Earl Capps on June 11th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Will, I’d love to meet the girl in that photo. She seems like the very up front kind to me.
By VIEHARIS on October 29th, 2009 at 7:30 am
NOW WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND IS THAT YOU CAN GET STOPED, HAVE SEX IN Cemetery , YOUR DRIVER CAN DRIVE OVER 115 MILES PER HOUR ON HIGHWAY 20 , OUR LEADER CAN GO ACROSS THE WORLD ON OUR TAX DOLLARS TO SEE HIS SOUL MATE. STATE TROOPERS CAN HIT BLACK MEN WITH THERE CARS AND NOT BE FOUND GUILTY, BEAT THEM HALF TO DEATH AND NOT BE FOUND GUILTY. SHERIFFS DEPT CAN PUT A MAN IN JAIL FOR SOMETHING HE DIDNT DO AND THEN SAY SORRY!!! AND OFFICER WINES CALLS HIS WIFE TO ASK IF Roland S. Corning IS THIS MANS REAL NAME AND HE’S HAVING SEX IN THE CEMETERY , WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AREESTED. WHEN OUR LT GOV CAN GET DRUNK AND GO DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD NOTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT ANY OF THESE THINGS WHEN IT SHOULD. ARE THEY SPECIAL PEOPLE OR WHAT. THEN THE MAN THAT HANDLES OUR STATE MONEY CAN BUY COCAINE AND GIVE HIS HOUSE GUEST COCAINE , BUT HE BOUGHT IT FROM A SMALL DEALER THAT RECEIVED THE MOST TIME FOR THIS. BUT U CAN TAKE CARE OF OUR STATE MONEY HA HA !!! AND OUR CHIEF OF JUSTISE CAN HIT SOMEONE’S CAR LEAVE THE SCENE AND ACT LIKE IT DIDNT HAPPEN AND NO CHARGES PRESSED. BUT THESE ARE OUR LEADERS? !!!! RIGHT. TO TOP IT OFF ONE OF OUR OWN REP JOE WILSON HAD THE NERVE TO CALL OUR PRESIDENT A LIAR!!!! AND ALL YALL FOOLS RAISED MORE THEN 4 MILLOIN DOLLARS FOR WHAT PURPOSE TO SUPPORT HIM HA HA!!!! AGAIN I SAY THESE ARE OUR LEADERS? BUT A BLACK MAN GETS THE MOST TIME FOR THE COCAINE THAT HE SOLD TO THE MAN THAT HANDLES THE STATES MONEY “WHAT A JOKE”.BUT OUR LEADERS RIGHT?!!! AND WALK OFF WITH A SLAP ON THE HAND, FAIR?! BUT IF A BLACK MEN /WOMEN OR YOUNG BLACK BOY/ GIRL JUST LOOK WRONG, OR IS WEARING “THE WRONG THING”, OR NOT LOOKING CLEAN CUT OR DRIVING SOMETHING WITH 24? ON IT, OR EVEN WORSE PLEASE !!!! DONT BE ON BROAD RIVER ROAD AND BE BLACK U MIGHT GET THE “DEATH SENTENCE”. SO TELL ME, DO YOU HAVE TO BE WHITE AND IN POLITICS OR HAVE OLD MONEY OR JUST ALOT OF MONEY, OR KNOW THE RIGHT PEOPLE SO WE AS A SOCIETY CAN BE TREATED FAIR IN COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA OR DO ALL BLACK PEOPLE NEED HAVE THESE THING SO WE CAN BE TREATED FAIR YOU TELL ME? I NEED TO KNOW ? I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING IN LIFE , JUST DONT TREAT ALL BLACKS THE SAME. NOW IF ANY THING LIKE THIS HAPPEN TO THE COMMON BLACK MEN , WOMEN, BOY, GIRL YOU WANT TO GIVE US THE GAS RIGHT. SO WHATS GOOD FOR ONE IS GOOD FOR ALL!!!! COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA U NEED O CHECK YOUR SELF AND TREAT EVERYONE FAIR!!!!