When Mary Mazzio first heard about middle-school girls from her hometown of Boston suing a website on which they had been sold for sex, the self-described “recovering lawyer” was blown away. Soon enough, pouring over a copy of the court case, Mazzio was plunged into a corner of the internet she had not suspected even existed: the world of classified ads website, Backpage.com.
Category: backpage
Shuttering Backpage.com, called an online brothel, could hurt law enforcement
California prosecutors label the site an “online brothel” that rakes in millions of dollars from sex trafficking that often includes minors, want to shut it down and send its owners to jail. The site’s two founders and its top executive are due in court Thursday to try to convince a judge to dismiss pimping, conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Really? Shuttering online brothel could hurt law enforcement
There’s a law enforcement paradox to Backpage.com, labeled by officials as the largest U.S. internet prostitution ad provider. California prosecutors label the site an “online brothel” that rakes in millions of dollars from sex trafficking that often includes minors, want to shut it down and send its owners to jail.
Backpage.com shuts ‘adult’ section in face of government pressure
The online classified advertising site Backpage.com abruptly shut its “adult” section on Monday, yielding to a campaign by some state and federal government officials to close a service they contend promotes prostitution and human trafficking. The unexpected move came on the eve of a hearing convened by a U.S. Senate subcommittee at which Backpage executives had been ordered to testify.