These Select Summaries of Backpage Victims Speak Volumes
Tony Ortega
This week we are going to shift gears just a little bit. In our examination of the official timeline of the rise of Backpage as laid forth in the State’s charging document, we’ve been focusing on the business side of the Backpage tragedy.
It is worth noting, however, that the indictment itself devotes an entire section to the detailing a sampling of victim summaries, some of which we felt might be beneficial to look at today.
Between the years 2009 and 2013, Victim 1 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Ohio, Indiana, and Georgia. Victim 1’s Backpage ads often included words and phrases that were indicative of prostitution, such as “ _roses_” (money).
On at least one occasion, Victim 1 contacted Backpage after a proposed ad had been rejected because it contained banned words and phrases. In response, a Backpage representative coached Victim 1 on how to re-write the ad using different words. Of course, as with so many of the illegal transactions which occurred using Backpage, Victim 1’s trafficker took all of the money that was earned through her acts of prostitution.
Sometime between 2009 and 2011, Victim 2 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, New York, New Jersey, and Louisiana. Victim 2’s trafficker drafted her Backpage ads and Victim 2 initially did not know she was being offered on Backpage. The ads contained words and phrases to make customers believe Victim 2 was “ _barely legal_” and also contained words and phrases indicative of prostitution, such as “ _roses_” (money).
Between 2009 and 2012, Victim 3 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Colorado and North Dakota. Victim 3’s pimp instructed her to review existing prostitution ads on Backpage to learn how to draft her own ads. During a portion of this period, Victim 3 was required by her pimp to make week-long trips to North Dakota to work as a prostitute. During these trips, which would generate as much as $2,000 in prostitution-derived revenue each day, Victim 3 was forced to leave her children at home in the care of her pimp.
In or around 2010, Victim 4 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage
ads, in Washington. During this period, Victim 4 was a juvenile (15 years old). Victim 4’s pimp drafted the ads that were placed on Backpage. The wording of these ads was edited by Backpage before publication. The ads contained words and phrases such as “ W’E’L’L W’O’R’T’H I’T*******150HR” and “ _IT WONT TAKE LONG AT ALL_” and included pictures of Victim 4 in provocative positions showing her breasts and buttocks.
Victim 5 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, between 2011 and 2016, in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. During much of this period, Victim 5 was a juvenile (14-19 years old).
Victim 5’s female pimp instructed Victim 5 that Backpage was the safest place to advertise because it did not require age verification. On one occasion, Backpage declined to accept a proposed ad that indicated Victim 5 was only 17 years old. In response, the ad was simply resubmitted with a new (false) age of 19. On other occasions, Backpage removed provocative pictures of Victim 5 from ads and then allowed edited versions of the ads to be published. Victim 5’s Backpage ads included words and phrases that were indicative of prostitution, such as “roses” (money) and “back door” (anal sex). Some of the customers who responded Victim 5’s Backpage ads forced Victim 5 to perform sexual acts at gun point, choked her to the point of having seizures, and gang-raped her.
Tragically, these stories were all too common among the victims of Backpage’s reckless crime spree.