Craigslist Prostitution Case Dismissed

The court case filed by an Illinois County Sheriff alleging the Craigslist website abets prostitution was thrown out by a federal judge this week.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart contended that the erotic services portion of the website constituted a "horrific" breach of U.S. law, alleging that the site had facilitated the largest source of prostitution in the country. He also said Craigslist aids underage pimping and human trafficking, ABC News reports.

Federal Judge John Grady, however, ruled that the intermediary website cannot be held liable for assisting customers who misuse their service to break the law. "If users routinely flout Craigslist guidelines it is not because Craigslist has caused them to do so," Grady wrote in his decision.

After Dart filed the lawsuit in July, Craigslist changed the section name from "erotic services" to "adult services" and added new precautions to pre-screen advertisements posted in the category. The website has always had regulations barring prostitutes from soliciting business on the site.

"We're very interested in pursuing this to the next level as far as an appeal," Dart told the news source.

The Craigslist website collects more than 20 billion page views each month.