Backpage.com has long claimed it has no control over ads promising sex for money, including ads that trafficked children here in the Pacific Northwest.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post published documents acquired during a legal dispute that show Backpage "hired a company in the Philippines to lure advertisers -- and customers seeking sex -- from sites run by its competitors."
“At last” was the response from King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles. “We have maintained for year after year after year for a very long time that Backpage has been facilitating the sale of minors for sex online, and regardless of what they say, that’s the reality of that. We know that,” Kohn-Welles told KIRO 7.
Kohl-Welles has been pushing for increased accountability by Backpage since she was a state senator. She believes the Washington Post investigation will lead to more lawsuits filed against the classified site, similar to the lawsuit filed by three teenage girls in Washington state.
Their attorney Michael Pfau told KIRO 7 during an interview in 2013 that the girls “were trafficked and they were forced to engage in horrendous sex acts with multiple men” after being offered for sale on Backpage.com.
Kohl-Welles also believes the new documentation uncovered by the Washington Post could have even more dire consequences.
“I hope that there will be a day in which we find that Backpage.com will be shut down,” she said.
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