LAKELAND, Fla. – No matter what Craigslist does to shed its reputation as the “virtual Yellow Pages for sex,” the hits just keep on coming. Over the past weekend, the Polk County, Fla., sheriff’s department arrested 34 people during a sting intended to nab prostitutes who use the online classified-advertising site to set up meetings.During the roundup, dubbed Operation Hot Date, Polk County detectives nabbed pimps and hookers from Tampa, Orlando and out of state. At a Monday press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd called Craigslist “a one-stop shop for all your prostitution needs.” He indicated although prostitution is illegal, other aspects of the business should be of more concern to the public.

“This is a public health issue,” Judd told reporters. “We know historically that prostitutes spread HIV and AIDS.”

For at least a year, Craigslist has been under attack by a coalition of 40 state attorneys general over the number of “sexual services” ads to be found on the website. Earlier this year the site signed a deal with the AGs under which it renamed its popular “erotic services” section “adult services,” removed the most graphic photographs in the new section and began screening all ads for potentially illegal offers. Regardless, Cook County, Ill., Sheriff Tom Dart filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist in March, claiming the advertising website had not done enough to discourage prostitution. Craigslist’s complicity in illegal activity, Dart claimed, cost his department too much money in extra manpower to enforce local laws.

A Craigslist spokesman said the website’s content may still need some fine-tuning, but the ads can’t hold a candle to those found in print publications in Florida.

“Adult service ads on Craigslist are dwarfed in volume and tame in content compared to other Central Florida advertising venues that have not adopted Craigslist’s strict review standards,” a Craigslist spokesman told FOX 13 News in Lakeland, Fla. “It would be surprising if the sheriff has chosen to ignore the larger and much more explicit adult service advertising venues operating throughout his jurisdiction.”

Judd remains adamant in his view the site is not doing all it can to stem illegal activity.

“Craigslist clearly continues to facilitate and derive profits from prostitution,” he told reporters during the press conference. “They receive $10 from each one of the advertisements placed by these prostitutes. Our investigation has just begun. We are not going to allow anyone to violate the law here in Polk County.”

Four men, assumed to be pimps, were arrested during Operation Hot Date. The other detainees are women, two of whom were pregnant.

Of more value to the crackdown, Judd indicated, is that his deputies seized black books and personal data assistants from the women, and most of the devices contain client lists. He expects to use that information to further the investigation, he said.

“Most of [the clients] are married,” FOX 13 reported. “Judd says it is not going to be pretty when their wives get a call from the sheriff’s office telling them what their husbands have been up to.”