Police: Prostitution operation featured $10 raffle

[December 02, 2008]  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Columbus police say they've shut down a prostitution ring in which men purchased $10 raffle tickets at a house party to win an evening with one of the hired women. Police said at a court hearing Saturday that the operation was organized through Craigslist, where about several hundred customers regularly posted comments on prostitutes they hired through the Web site.

Police said one organizer invited men who had posted Craigslist reviews and some of the top-rated prostitutes to a party at a Columbus home owned by another organizer.

Prostitutes were given their regular fee, while the organizers pocketed the difference earned from the raffle.

Police said the two organizers were arrested Friday and charged with promoting prostitution, a fourth-degree felony.

___

Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.