Law can't stop Brit student from selling virginity online

Washington, Jan 16 (ANI): A woman auctioning her virginity online may be considered taboo and illegal in many countries, but a 22-year-old student is doing it and apparently the law cannot stop her because prostitution is legal in her home country.

Natalie Dylan, made-up name for a real California college grad, is offering her body to bidders nationwide in an auction that reportedly has netted a 3.7 million dollars offer.

While her offer has attracted serious flak from all corners of the world, neither the law, nor the FBI, the U.S. attorney or the local police, can do anything against her, for Dylan is marketing her maidenhead in Nevada, where prostitution is legal.

"It does seem crazy. The rest of the country has an interest in stopping that kind of activity from spreading from Nevada to their home state," Fox News quoted Mathew Staver, director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy, as saying.

Staver said that, as the bidding was taking place on the Internet, federal law could be applied to stop the auction from going through.

"Nevada has been out of step with the rest of the country for many years with regards to prostitution, and that's why I think it's important for federal prosecutors to look into this, so that Nevada does not dictate the morals and moral decency for the rest of the nation," said Staver.

However, authorities said that they couldn't do much about the case, and deflected attention toward local statutes.

"Being that prostitution is legal in the area that she's listing from, and she's over 18 and it's consensual, I would defer it to local police authorities," said David Staretz, a spokesman for the FBI's Las Vegas field office.

The Postal Inspection Service, which monitors the Internet for some illegal transactions, is "currently unaware of any specific fed prohibition against this activity," said spokesman Al Weissman.

In fact, a few legal experts have said that the women and the site owners are well within their rights to make the sale.

"It's a First Amendment issue. You can advertise goods or services that are illegal where they're advertised but legal where they're performed. What's she's advertising is as legal as toast with the crust cut off where she is," said Marc Randazza, an attorney specializing in first amendment law.

He added: "If this is legal where it's being advertised" - in Nevada - "the government can't say you can't advertise it here." (ANI)