Layla South
07-16-2008, 12:34 PM
SUMTER, SC (WIS) - Two women were busted Tuesday for prostitution through the work of a Midlands Internet crimes team.
Carin Linton of Sumter and *********** of Columbia are charged with working as prostitutes.
Craigslist is a popular website where you can buy and sell things like bikes and curtains.
Now Sumter County investigators say you can also look for sex there.
Officers say 33-year-old ******* of Sumter and 44-year-old *** **** **** of Columbia were advertising as prostitutes on Craigslist.
"They look like regular people looking to meet someone, then you can tell prostitution is why they're there," says Allen Dailey, with the sheriff's office.
Dailey says their Internet crimes investigator found the ads in the personals section of Craigslist in the section called "services."
The Sumter County Internet Crimes team says many people advertise on Craigslist looking for a date. Most of the time they're simply people looking for a companion. But officers know the Internet can also be a place to advertise prostitution.
So investigators started calling some phone numbers in the site's personals section this week. When they did, they say they stumbled on two women up to no good.
Officers say they arranged to meet the women at a house in Sumter County, pretending to be customers.
"They thought they were meeting a normal everyday person and it was a police officer," says Dailey. "Money was discussed, how much an hour."
That's when Linton and Goodwin were arrested. They went to the Sumter Lee Detention Center.
The bust is significant. It's the first time the county's Internet crimes team has arrested accused prostitutes.
Officers are working to see if the women are part of a larger prostitution service.
For now, the women have bonded out of jail.
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http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8679056
Carin Linton of Sumter and *********** of Columbia are charged with working as prostitutes.
Craigslist is a popular website where you can buy and sell things like bikes and curtains.
Now Sumter County investigators say you can also look for sex there.
Officers say 33-year-old ******* of Sumter and 44-year-old *** **** **** of Columbia were advertising as prostitutes on Craigslist.
"They look like regular people looking to meet someone, then you can tell prostitution is why they're there," says Allen Dailey, with the sheriff's office.
Dailey says their Internet crimes investigator found the ads in the personals section of Craigslist in the section called "services."
The Sumter County Internet Crimes team says many people advertise on Craigslist looking for a date. Most of the time they're simply people looking for a companion. But officers know the Internet can also be a place to advertise prostitution.
So investigators started calling some phone numbers in the site's personals section this week. When they did, they say they stumbled on two women up to no good.
Officers say they arranged to meet the women at a house in Sumter County, pretending to be customers.
"They thought they were meeting a normal everyday person and it was a police officer," says Dailey. "Money was discussed, how much an hour."
That's when Linton and Goodwin were arrested. They went to the Sumter Lee Detention Center.
The bust is significant. It's the first time the county's Internet crimes team has arrested accused prostitutes.
Officers are working to see if the women are part of a larger prostitution service.
For now, the women have bonded out of jail.
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http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8679056