Backpage and ListCrawler Sting Operations

U.S. authorities seized backpage [dot]com in April of 2018. Since backpage.com was shut down, a number of alternative classified ad sites for escorts quickly popped up. By 2024, sting operations on ListCrawler or Mega Listcrawler have the most arrests. Like Backpage, the ListCrawler website advertises “female escorts and call girls” and MegaPersonals. Law enforcement officers also conduct sting operations using similar sights, including Craigslist and Sip Sap.

Law enforcement officers have recently started using these alternative sites to conduct sting operations involving prostitution crimes. Currently, law enforcement officers in Florida seem to be focusing most of their efforts on ListCrawler stings.

Although only a tiny percentage of people get caught up in a sting operation, arrests are becoming more common in many counties across Florida, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Polk County.

Unfortunately, sting operations are not very good at targeting the actual causes of human trafficking, which is a severe problem. Instead, the most inexperienced or novice participants get caught up in the sting operations.

Some sting operations even entrap participants by encouraging them to commit a crime they were not predisposed to commit. When attorneys raise a reasonable doubt about whether the defendant was entrapped, the entire case might be thrown out.

Attorneys for Prostitution Sting Operations in Florida

The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm represent men and women entrapped in a sting operation targeting prostitution and solicitation. Before Backpage.com was shut down in April 2018, many sting operations involved ads posted on that website.

Now, law enforcement officers focus on ListCrawler and other Backpage or Craigslist replacements. The number of old-fashioned john stings has also increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

No matter the circumstances, our attorneys understand how to assert legal defenses in these cases. By fighting the case aggressively, your criminal defense attorney might be able to convince the prosecutor to reduce the charge to “disorderly conduct” or even drop the accusation entirely.

Your attorney can also file a motion to suppress evidence taken after a warrantless arrest when the arresting officer did not have probable cause that all elements of the crime occurred in the officer’s presence. Florida law requires that the officer witness all elements of the offense before the arrest is legal.

In other cases, a motion to dismiss can be filed when the undisputed facts show that the prosecutor’s evidence is insufficient. This is especially true when no contract for “sex for money” was formed between the person arrested and the undercover officer.

When the criminal defense attorney files pre-trial motions and thoroughly prepares the case for trial, the prosecutor often becomes more motivated to make a better pre-trial offer. If you avoid a conviction, we can help you seal or expunge the record quickly. Contact the attorneys at Sammis Law Firm to discuss your case today.

Call 813-250-0500.

Why is Prostitution Illegal in Florida?

If having sex between two consenting adults isn’t illegal, why is paying for sex a crime?

The short answer is that local law enforcement officers know that a conviction of the john comes with a $5,000 penalty in addition to other fines, court costs, cost of supervision, cost of prosecution, cost of investigation, and cost of supervision.

If the vehicle is towed from the scene, towing and storage fees are imposed. In some jurisdictions, the county or city also imposed a civil penalty of $500 to get the vehicle back after a prostitution arrest.

Sting operations on Bedpage-type sites are a quick and easy way to discourage the conduct instead of doing the actual police work necessary to catch real criminals. The real criminals engaged in human trafficking are rarely caught in these sting operations that entrap the less sophisticated or novice users of escort services.

History of Backpage Stings Targeting Johns and Sex Workers

To understand how sting operations are currently being conducted, it is important to look at the history of Backpage. The vast majority of ads on the Backpage website were for escort-type services. Because of its popularity across the county, law enforcement officers found it the perfect way to set up prostitution sting operations to target johns and prostitutes.

People went to great lengths to avoid getting caught in a Backpage sting operation. If you used Backpage, you were more likely to get busted for solicitation in counties where these sting operations are common. Law enforcement officers know this.

For the Backpage Sting Operations in Polk County, the undercover operations were set up at a house in a neighborhood on the northern edge of Polk County in Davenport, FL. The undercover house used in the sting operation was just 1,000 feet south of the Osceola County line, just off the I-4 Interstate.

The ads for prostitutes in these sting operations target tourists in greater Orlando and lure them just across the county line into Polk County, FL. The problem with these sting operations is that they tend to target people with the least experience with soliciting a prostitute.

A person with little experience cannot tell they are being set up by the police when they respond to a Backpage ad for an escort. The less experience the “John” has, the more likely he doesn’t know that person in the ad is a cop. Likewise, people inexperienced in posting Backpage ads for escort services have difficulty telling if a “john” is a cop.

Sex workers experienced in posting and responding to such ads can tell when the person calling is part of a sting operation. Professional sex workers are very good at running counterintelligence to determine when the police are involved. The ads posted by the police are very different from the other ads because they usually don’t use naked pictures or overt language. Additionally, several escort review websites have popped up that allow the john to determine whether the professional sex worker is legitimate.

By allowing a john to leave a review, the review websites also provide a way for the escort to confirm whether the john is legitimate. Of course, now the police are setting up fake reviews and using the escort review sites to gain more information about their targets.

For this reason, sting operations are extremely ineffective in targeting anyone involved in human trafficking.

To achieve the highest number of arrests, the operations target sex between consenting adults and stay away from strings involving children, resulting in a much lower number of arrests (although for much more serious crimes).

Are John Sting Operations Racist or Discriminatory?

The Backpage-type Sting Operations are criticized as being racist or discriminatory because they target people based on national origin or sexual orientation.

For example, the officers in these sting operations create racial disparity by using Spanish-speaking Hispanic undercover officers. The sting operations also heavily target transgender (male to female) escorts when responding to ads.

Recent studies show that sting operations tend to be set up in minority neighborhoods even when you adjust for other socio-economic factors.

A motion to dismiss on due process grounds should be considered when a person is targeted in this manner. When the pre-trial motions do not resolve the case, the attorney can take the case to trial to ask the jury to return a “not guilty” verdict.

Cops Violated the “Terms of Use” on Backpage

Anyone who used the Backpage website was required to agree to the terms of use expressly. But in these sting operations, law enforcement officers ALWAYS violated the “terms of use” by claiming the ads do not involve prostitution and then saying the opposite after the arrest.

The experienced criminal defense attorneys at Sammis Law Firm filed motions showing that by violating the “terms of use” the officers violated the substantive due process rights of the person arrested.

Consider the fact that the terms of use require the user to agree to the following expressly:

1. Use of the Site, including all access, services and/or features, is governed by these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
2. By using the Site in any way, you agree to comply with these Terms.
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