Online ad website accused of being 'hub for child prostitution'

London, Aug 9 (ANI): Two young women have alleged that they were repeatedly sold for sex by Craigslist, the online classified advertising website.

In an open letter to Craig Newmark, the website's owner, the women claim men 'paid to rape' them after searching the site's adult services section for listings that indicated they were underage.

One of them named MC said she was forced into prostitution at the age of 11 by a man who trafficked "many girls my age".

"All day, me and other girls sat with our laptops, pasting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist, he made 1,500 dollar a night selling my body, dragging me to Los Angeles, Houston, Little Rock - and on one trip to Las Vegas in the trunk of a car," The Telegraph quoted the letter as saying.

"Craig we write this letter so you will know from our personal experiences how Craigslist makes horrific acts like this so easy to carry out and the men who arrange them very rich."

The second woman, AK, said that she was forced into prostitution by a man twice her age, and he pretended to be her boyfriend.

"He put my picture on Craigslist, and I was sold for sex by the hour at truck stops and cheap motels, 10 hours with 10 different men every night. This became my life," the letter said.

Craigslist's chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, said that the company worked tirelessly with law enforcement agencies to identify advertisements that exploited children, manually reviewed every adult service advertisement before posting and required phone verification by the person placing it.

However, an attempt by Craigslist to block a criminal investigation over the adult services section was refused by a federal judge. (ANI)