William ‘Clint’ Powell, the director of customer service and law enforcement relations at online advertising firm Craigslist, told a House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday that the site – which abruptly removed the adult services category in the US on Sept. 3 – currently has “no plans” of restoring the deleted adult services section. 

The controversial adult services section was removed from Craigslist after law enforcement officials and nonprofit groups criticized that the ads in the adult services section of the classifieds website – which critics have termed as “Wal-Mart of online sex trafficking” - promote prostitution, child trafficking, and even leading to violence against women.

Asking Craigslist to discontinue its adult services, the attorneys general of 17 US states had, in their late-August letter to Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster, noted that “the increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution - including ads trafficking children - are rampant on it.”

Reiterating that Craigslist does not intend resuming adult services ads, Powell told the House panel: “There are no plans to reinstate the (adult services) category. Those who formerly placed ads in the adult services category will now have to advertise elsewhere.”

After being persistently questioned by the subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Virginia, Powell also added that Americans can still access the erotic ads on Craigslist’s foreign sites, including its Canadian site.