14-year-old British Columbia girl arrested for luring teens into prostitution

TORONTO - A 14-year-old British Columbia girl has been arrested after allegedly prostituting herself and luring other girls into prostitution through the online classified site Craigslist.

In online ads posted on Craigslist’s controversial erotic services section, the girl was posing as an 18-year-old woman available for sex.

“She was the ringleader. It’s something that’s unfortunate to see,” the Globe and Mail quoted Lea-Anne Dunlop, Chilliwack RCMP Cpl., as saying.

While there’s a ban on publication because of the girls’ ages, Dunlop said the accused teenager knew the other teens she is accused of recruiting. The girl faces one count of procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.

In a statement, B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman said he was appalled by the case.

“The incident speaks to the importance of parents educating themselves and their children about the dangers of the Internet and the sex trade, and the need to report any suspicious activity or behavior to a person of authority,” said Coleman.

Dunlop noted the charges are an important message to parents to start talking to their teens about such risks and said teens need the armour of knowledge that parents can provide to them for protection, before their friends introduce them to sex, or possibly even the sex trade. (ANI)