Craigslist is not a pimp, said Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist, on Friday, reacting to the lawsuit filed by Chicago's Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, in which Dart alleged that Craigslist was playing the role of a "web pimp" by posting "child prostitution ads" in its "erotic services" section.

On Thursday, Dart, who demanded the court to order the site to eliminate its Erotic Services section, said, "Craigslist is the single largest source of prostitution in the nation. Missing children, runaways, abused women and women trafficked in from foreign countries are routinely forced to have sex with strangers because they're being pimped on craigslist."

In a statement issued yesterday, Buckmaster stated that Dart's suit is a waste of time. Buckmaster explained, "As our counsel explained to Sheriff Dart's Department in 2007, Craigslist cannot be held liable as a matter of clear federal law for content submitted to the site by our users... Frankly, Sheriff Dart's actions mystify me."

Buckmaster disclosed that Dart was not the first to ask Craigslist to intensify its efforts to comb out prostitution ads. He revealed that the site had already "reached an agreement with 40 state attorneys-general about creating a new enforcement plan for Craigslist," and Lisa Madigan, the attorney general for Illinois, was one of 40 state attorneys general.

Buckmaster said, "And yet, inexplicably, Sheriff Dart apparently bypassed the Illinois Attorney General's office and filed this complaint through a private law firm. We assist police forces all over the country, including members of Sheriff Dart's department. The vast majority seem to understand that Craigslist is part of the solution when it comes to combating terrible crimes like human trafficking and child exploitation."

On the other side, Dart stated that the ads like "Teens for Cash" and "Hot young girls needed for Naughty Nanny Service" can be often seen on Craigslist. The FBI has already found over 2,800 child prostitution ads on the site. "It's abundantly clear it's prostitution. You have pictures that are pornographic. You have people setting out their rates of what they charge for what services and what amounts of time," Dart said.

In an interview yesterday, Dart said, "This (lawsuit) was my act of last resort. We're seeing some outrageous stuff here that we hadn't seen before. Our people on the street have seen the volume increase. It's become much more complicated for us. We can debate the whole 'Pretty Woman' thing. If a woman decides that this is a viable choice for employment, but that isn't the ones we're focused on."

"We arrested numerous juveniles over the last two years. What we found is that they weren't advertised as juveniles in most of them. We walk in to hear: 'You want a juvenile? We got a juvenile. You'll have to pay more but we have her for you," Dart added.