I

t was in the 1990s that prostitutes were depicted like Vivian Ward, played by American sweetheart Julia Roberts, in the movie Pretty Woman: women in colorful makeup and mini dresses standing on sidewalks all night, waiting for “johns”.

Today’s prostitution rings are all about uploading steamy photos, clicking a “like” button, publishing a 24-hour-a-day hotline and advertising available escorts through Facebook, the world’s number-one social media website.

Police acknowledge that investigating online prostitution businesses is complicated due to their
non-visible transactions. They have been dealing with the issue since 2010 and are still reporting new findings today.

The Jakarta Police revealed on Thursday that they had uncovered a prostitution ring set up on Facebook the previous day, arresting one alleged pimp and securing six underage prostitutes.

The cybercrime unit at the Jakarta Police’s special investigations division announced Thursday that the police had monitored a 19-year-old woman, who was the alleged pimp and has been identified as MY, since the beginning of the month.

On Feb. 2, she sent a text message to cybercrime detective Comr. Much. Koderi, who introduced himself as Joky Setiawan, offering girls as escorts. She then sent several pictures of the girls to Joky’s Facebook account.

“She said that the girls were students,” Koderi said.

It is alleged that after negotiating a suitable rate, “Joky” agreed to use six girls with the price of Rp 800,000 (US$89) each. They set up a meeting in a hotel in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon. The police arrested the woman at the hotel and confiscated cash, eight cellular phones and three hotel room bills.

The girls she brought with her were students from Cibinong and Depok, south of Jakarta.

The police investigation revealed that she had used her Facebook account to offer young girls, aged between 16 and 17, as prostitutes for Rp 800,000 to Rp 1.5 million.

She would allegedly ask for Rp 200,000 up front and force the girls to split their earnings 50-50 with her.

According to Koderi, the woman allegedly trawled shopping centers for potential prostitutes and persuaded them to be escorts by promising plenty of money to the girls who needed cash. She allegedly hung out with the girls to get closer to them before revealing her true motives.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said that the girls would only be witnesses in the case. “We will return them to their parents after questioning,” he said.

He said the girls’ parents knew nothing about the alleged prostitution ring that entangled their daughters. “They were shocked when they found out what their daughters had experienced,” he said.

Adj. Comr. Audie S. Latuheru, the head of cybercrime unit, said that MY could be charged with child prostitution. MY may face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp 200 million for the crime if found guilty. The police may also charge her under the Criminal Code for child trafficking.

The police cybercrime unit has been monitoring websites and suspicious accounts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to curb the hazards of the cyberspace.

In January last year, police broke up an alleged prostitution ring also set up on Facebook and arrested the alleged pimp, a resident of South Jakarta, who reportedly convinced her neighbors to join the business. She allegedly used Facebook to offer girls, aged between 13 and 16, jobs as escorts. The price charged was Rp 2 million.