Ohio attorney general calls on Craigslist to eliminate adult services section

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, joined by 16 other state attorneys general, is calling on the craigslist online classified advertising service to immediately take down the Adult Services portion of the site.

Cordray's action is due to continued prostitution advertisements and concern about reported sex trafficking of children through the Adult Services section of the craigslist website.

The multistate letter, to craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark, contends that craigslist cannot — or will not — adequately screen these illicit ads, so it must stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section.

"The increasingly sharp public criticism of craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution — including ads trafficking children — are rampant on it," Cordray said today. "In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads."