No, no, the rentboy raid didn’t target any specific population

Timothy Kincaid

August 27th, 2015

You will no doubt be delighted to learn that when the Federal Department of Homeland Security raided and shut down Rentboy.com it had nothing to do with it being a gay site. No, sirree. (NYTimes)

Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which participated in the investigation, said in an email that “any insinuation that a specific population was targeted is categorically false.”

Yes, it may be true that the last time anyone went after a straight escort site included charges of money laundering and child pornography, neither of which is cited in the Rentboy case. Merest coincidence.

And it may also be true that the complaint filed by special agent Susan Ruiz includes the following language:

A profile for “Brandon,” advertising services in Brooklyn, New York stated that he is “hairy handsome versatile & uninhibited.” The profile noted that he was willing to have Brooklyn incalls and had a “sling and rim chair.” Based on my investigation, I have learned that a sling, also known as a “sex sling,” is a device that allows two people to have sex while one is suspended and a rimchair is a seat resembling a raised toilet seat designed so that that anus is accessible while someone is sitting on the seat. I have also learned that “rimming” refers to the touching of the tongue to the anus.

But that isn’t included for any sort of titillating or shocking factor. And definitely not to suggest that Homosexual Acts Are Icky Icky Icky. Nope. That was necessary valuable information.

And in case all of this reminds you a bit of bar raids and police stings on gay people, please be assured that your government would never do that. No. Such an idea is categorically false.

Lucrece

August 28th, 2015

And the funny thing is they know their victims won’t fight back due to public shaming the case will no doubt be lacking.

Customartist

August 28th, 2015

Let me quess?:

Neither Khaalid Walls, Susan Ruiz, nor any of the other investigators have ever been homophobic or anti-gay in any way?

Who will investigate THEM?

JohnInTheBayArea

August 28th, 2015

A friend of mine recently retired from ICE (previously Customs). He worked in the ICE unit that investigated prostitution and sex trafficking. None of the cases he told me about involved gay people. They were mostly Asian operations on the West Coast.

So, they took down Rentboy.com. No wailing and gnashing of teeth about all the pimping and prostitution rings that ICE takes down on a regular basis. Those prostitutes are female.

The Feds previously shut down the sex trade portions of Craigslist. Most of those prostitutes were female. Not all, but most.

Maybe I am getting old, and just don’t care that much about “titilation.” I think that when you are prosecuting a prostitution online operation, pointing out the obvious intent to sell sexual services through the online adverts is part of making your case.

Dave H

August 29th, 2015

Prostitution is illegal, except in Nevada. If you get busted for doing something illegal, it does no good to complain about others who are doing it who haven’t been caught (yet).

Lucrece

August 30th, 2015

The point is prostitution should never be illegal to begin with.

When will people learn. Didn’t work well for alcohol, didn’t work well for marijuana, and the unregulated black market of prostitution DOES NOT protect prostitutes.

Paul Douglas

August 30th, 2015

I think prostitution is only legal in a couple of counties in Nevada to be precise.

Priya Lynn

August 30th, 2015

“When will people learn. Didn’t work well for alcohol, didn’t work well for marijuana, and the unregulated black market of prostitution DOES NOT protect prostitutes.”

Exactly. Prostitution being illegal makes it much more dangerous for prostitutes.

Ben in oakland

August 30th, 2015

Oriya, I was in law enforcement some 30 odd years ago, and I always thought that the anti-laws did not do a thing that they were supposed to do, except satisfy the moralizing busybodies that they were doing something about something or other..

Organized crime in this country would never have gotten the foothold it did were it not for the 15 years of prohibition. An axiom of business is that it takes money to make money, and prohibition gave them the money they needed to expand into so many areas.

Mark F.

August 31st, 2015

Prostitution is only legal in some small counties in Nevada, and then only at licensed brothels. There are no legal male prostitutes in the United States.

Libria

August 31st, 2015

Mark.F
Thank you, and thanks to wikipedia.
Btw, and there are no legal male and female prostitutes in the United States(except in Nevada). Your point?

Timothy, I get your point. Rim(toilet) chair and sex sling? I mean, there are many ways to prove a prostitution. Like in your picture(a few articles back). But I get it – the ad with “I lick ass” is first choice. Icky, icky – arrest them.

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