Pittsburgh vice squad detectives have taken their battle against prostitution to the new doorstep of their suspects -- the Internet.

That's where multi-jurisdictional investigators built the case for their most recent prostitution arrests. Eight women, from as far away as Las Vegas, Nev., have been charged, said Sgt. Craig Campbell, head of the vice squad, at a news conference yesterday.

"The Internet is the new street corner. It's all out there," he said.

Police declined to identify the suspects arrested Tuesday and Wednesday.

They were tracked by investigators surfing the Internet on sites that included Craigslist, the City Paper's pittsburgh.backpage.com and Indys.com.

Operators of the Web sites have not been charged, and they likely will not be, Sgt. Campbell said. Though prostitutes advertise on them, it's not clear that the site operators have broken laws.

The sites have been monitored for months by the city squad and officers from Green Tree, Moon, Coraopolis and Carnegie. The arrests this week were made at hotels and motels in each of those municipalities.

Most of the suspects' advertisements offer "erotic services" without providing details.

The undercover officers would arrange meetings with the suspects if they learned the women offered sex for money. Most charged clients $150 to $600, although some charged thousands of dollars, Sgt. Campbell said.

The recent crackdown was spurred, in part, by complaints from parents concerned that their children would happen upon the prostitution ads.