Teenage prostitutes in Eugene: 'Our main goal ... is to rescue these girls'
EUGENE, Ore. -- This week, an Illinois man was sentenced to probation and 50 days jail time for crimes including sexual acts with a 15-year-old prostitute in Eugene.
According to Eugene police, James Dublin met the girl through the Web site Craigslist. She advertised herself as 19 but was in fact much younger.
Troublingly, detectives are finding more teenage girls involved in online prostitution.
"We've definitely been coming across minors more frequently," said Detective Curt Newell. "March of this year was the beginning of an influx of underage prostitution."
Since then, Newell said they've discovered close to 10 teenage prostitute, ranging from 14 to 17 years old. Most of the girls, he said, are from Eugene and Springfield.
"To get to them, we're investigating all facets of prostitution enterprise -- the pimps, the johns, who are the customers," said Newell. "Our main goal in our investigations is to rescue these girls and get them out of that type of lifestyle."
Those investigations often start when the teenager's parents contact EPD. Sometimes, parents will identify their children through photos posted in escort ads.
Online prostitution -- involving minors and adults -- is increasing, said Newell.
"They view what they do as a job," he said . "What I would say any good business person would do is stay up to date with technology."
Some prostitutes maintain personal Web sites, listing their rates and services.
Others post ads on Web sites like Craigslist in the adult services section.
Since Craiglist will remove illegal content, many ads do not mention sex at all, instead advertising dinner dates and massages.
But according to Newell, "99 percent of advertisements are actually someone who would engage in a prostitution activity."
Officers find out when they contact the people advertising by phone or arrange for meetings. To make an arrest, the person must agree to perform sexual acts for money.
