16 Men Sentenced in Florida Sex Offender Sting

From News4 Jacksonville, which might as well be called the ‘Sex Offender News Network’ – given their vigilance in reporting on sex offender stories, comes the latest report of 16 Men Sentenced in Clay County following a sex offender sting dubbed, “Operation Wrong Destination”.

The report states that, “…during the operation, detectives posed as a child who posted an advertisement on Craigslist.”

Ahhh…. Craigslist… where you can buy a used couch or engage in a sex sting.

Never mind that under Craigslist’s Terms of Use they don’t even allow people under 18 to use the site.

WELCOME TO CRAIGSLIST. We hope you find it useful. By accessing our servers, websites, or content therefrom (together, “CL”), you agree to these Terms of Use (“TOU”), last updated December 05, 2013.

LICENSE. If you are 18 or older, we grant you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive, nonassignable, nonsublicensable license to access CL in compliance with the TOU; unlicensed access is unauthorized.

Or… when even attempting to access the Craigslist Personals, a warning screen comes up that states, “By clicking the link below you confirm that you are 18 or older and understand personals may include adult content.”

So, someone looking to make a personal connection through the Craigslist Personals has the express understanding that only people over the age of 18 should be on there.

Now I understand that even though there are safeguards, it doesn’t stop someone under 18 from being on there, much less than underage drinking is entirely preventable. That said; these are not people under 18. These are adult law enforcement officers pretending to be under 18.

Which leaves us with 16 individuals who went on an Adult site where only adults are permitted to be, looking for a relationship with an Adult who will spend the next several years in prison at tax payer’s expense.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for law enforcement to troll Craigslist for the actual minors posting ads (presuming that there actually are any)? That would save taxpayers a ton of money and would do something to protect actual children from harm.