From www.chicagobreakingnews.com- The new “adult services” section on the Craigslist Web site appears to be an improvement over the “erotic services” category it has replaced, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said this morning.

At the request of the Chcago Tribune, Dart sat down at a computer in the Tribune news room and perused postings in the new adult category.

“The postings are definitely toned down a lot,” he said. “My goal was to get the over-the-top stuff off. … They’ve done that.”
Dart said that what had most concerned him were explicit photos on the site. The photos posted this morning in the new category appear acceptable, he said.

“Photos are the big thing. The language–there’s not a lot I can do about that,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that the new ads do not appear to list prices for specific acts.

Dart said his office will continue to run sting operations related to the new adult services section between now and July, the next court date regarding his federal lawsuit that seeks to shut down the erotic services postings. He said he would reserve judgment until then on how well Craigslist was living up to its promises to more closely monitor sex postings.

On Wednesday, under pressure from Dart and 43 state attorneys general, including Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, Craigslist stopped accepting erotic services posts and launched the new adult category. Older erotic postings will remain on the site for another six days, when they are scheduled to disappear completely.

Craigslist said the new adult postings would be more closely screened by its staff members before publication.