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Teen suspected of using Craigslist for prostitution

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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To some people, Craigslist might seem more like Crimeslist.

Last month, a New Jersey man's conviction for posting a fake sex ad on Craigslist--an ad purporting to be from his sister--was upheld by the New Jersey courts.

Last week, we learned that a and trashed after an ad appeared briefly on the Internet bulletin board that invited anyone and everyone to help themselves to anything and everything in the house.

Now apparently new media is helping to promote the oldest profession as we learn that a teenage girl was arrested in a Chicago suburb on suspicion of running an escort service via Craigslist.

The Associated Press reportsthat Kimberly Petersen, 17, was arrested after detectives doing a routine search of the site found an ad that included an offer to "enjoy a beautiful blonde" for $250 an hour and pictures of a smiling woman in lingerie. A detective who answered the ad was quoted a $300 rate for a woman to perform a sex act.

In both this and the Tacoma cases, the ads were quickly removed after Craigslist users tipped off site administrators.