ATLANTA,None — The national website Craigslist has sent a letter to Georgia agencies asking them to stop using their name in studies of child exploitation in Metro Atlanta.
Channel 2 Action News has learned Craigslist sent cease and desist notices to several offices, including the governor.
A study done recently in Georgia showed more men responded to ads for sex on Craigslist than other sites.
"The ads we placed on Craigslist yielded more phone calls than comparable ads placed on other sites," said Beth Schapiro with the Schapiro group.
The letter is not dissuading groups who help teenage prostitutes. Channel 2's Jovita Moore talked with "Tori" a 15-year-old girl who spent a year as a prostitute.
Tori said she met her pimp on a social networking site."When people go on the Internet they can see the pictures and there will be a phone number and they'll call and set up a time and stuff like that, so it plays a major, major part," Tori told Moore.
"They are befriending these girls, making these girls think they're their boyfriend and that they love them and want to be with them. Then they turn around and start manipulating them into this lifestyle where they have to bring in money for the guy," said Paul Bowley of Wellspring Living, a group specializing in childhood trauma.
Craigslist did not respond to our requests for comment. The groups using the study said they would continue to spread the word about the Internet and child exploitation.