A Hudson man was arrested in Bedford on Aug. 20 in a prostitution sting after he posted on the online classified advertising service Craigslist, police said.

“Prostitution and the Internet have no boundaries. They exist everywhere now, in every community,” Detective Matthew Fleming said.

Timothy Boland, 36, was taken into custody for soliciting an undercover female officer in the Bedford Mall parking lot at 5:30 p.m.

“We were actually responding to postings made on Craigslist,” Detective Matt Fleming said. “Part of the things we like to do with the Internet investigations is to be constantly monitoring things ... especially on the Web site Craigslist, you’ll find different sex acts being solicited.”

In a series of postings in the “casual encounters” section of the site last week, a man who says he is 36 years old offered to pay a woman $25 to meet him at 5:30 in a Bedford parking lot and watch him masturbate.

Fleming said he could not confirm it was the advertisement to which police responded, but said the department tries to monitor postings involving Bedford regularly.

“We were able to put together a fairly quick operation,” he said.

After some back and forth communication on the site, the 5:30 meeting at the Bedford Mall parking lot was arranged. Boland was then taken into custody without incident, Fleming said.

“Most of the people involved in these types of operations are very cooperative,” Fleming said.

Boland was released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail, police said. He is due back in Merrimack District Court on Oct. 15.

The Web site recently removed its “erotic services” section, after facing scrutiny following a number of crimes spurring from the section, including a recent Boston murder.

Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, had advertised on the site as a masseuse in Boston before she was found shot dead in the Copley Marriot Hotel. Philip Markoff, a 23-year-old Boston University medical student, has been charged with the crime and dubbed the “Craigslist Killer” by the Boston media.

But Fleming said the site has only changed the name of the section.

“They removed erotic services from Craigslist, but they still have the category adult services, and it’s just the same thing,” he said.

The “adult services” section of the Web site’s New Hampshire listings include coyly worded ads for “private massage and entertainment encounters.” And less-than-coyly-worded posts, such as the one seeking a parking lot meeting, complete with dollar signs in the subject, still pop up on the “casual encounters” section.

Fleming said that technology has brought prostitution into communities where it has not historically been an issue.

“It’s very simple to do,” he said. “The Internet has given them the ability not to walk the corner anymore, or pull up to a curb and ask a girl to get into a car.” In some ways, Bedford is a good spot for meetings set up on the Internet, Fleming said.

“We have a number of large business areas and business districts,” he said. “They’ll make meetings online and then find parking lots, area parking lots, to blend in and meet up.”

But those looking for love should stay out of town, Fleming said.

“We’re just trying to send a strong message that its not going to be tolerated,” he said.