DOCUMENT: Sex, Crime

Man Busted For Craigslist Sex Barter Offer

Cops: Iowan was hunting for a 16-foot boat trailer

Boat Trailer

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Boat Trailer For Sex

MARCH 13--Meet Stan Syring.

In need of a 16-foot trailer for a flat-bottom boat, the Iowa man went on Craigslist and posted an ad proposing a barter deal in the site’s “For Sale/Wanted” section.

What Syring allegedly offered in exchange for the trailer resulted in his arrest this week, according to police.

The Craigslist post by Syring, a married, 37-year-old father, noted that the boat trailer was needed “asap,” and that the poster “will trade for sex if need be.”

After Marion Police Department officers learned of the online ad, they exchanged e-mails with the Craigslist poster discussing whether the offered act would be oral or anal sex. The parties agreed that detail would be settled when they met in person, according to police.

During a subsequent meeting with a male undercover officer, Syring “offered his services as a partner in a sex act in exchange for a boat trailer,” according to a District Court criminal complaint.

Investigators allege that Syring also agreed to give the cop $25 (in addition to the sex act, which is not further described in court papers). A used 16-foot boat trailer typically sells for several hundred dollars.  

Syring was subsequently arrested and charged with prostitution. He was booked Monday into the Linn County jail on the misdemeanor count, and was released from custody the following day. (1 page)