SF Weekly’s corporate parent has been sued for “sex trafficking” by a teenage girl who was forced into prostitution at age 14. The plaintiff says her pimp solicited business for her through ads placed in the adult services section of Backstage.com, the national classifieds site of Village Voice Media, owner of SF Weekly, LA Weekly, the Village Voice and other alternative weekly newspapers.-PS
The parent company of the SF Weekly is being sued by a teenager who claims the company abetted sex trafficking on its classified ads website Backpage.com, the New York Daily News reports.
The teen’s lawsuit claims her pimp, who has pleaded guilty to prostitution charges, posted photos of the girl when she was 14 on Backpage.com, a national classified ad site owned by Village Voice Media, the corporate parent of SF Weekly, LA Weekly, and their New York affiliate, the Village Voice. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Village Voice Media is under pressure from 21 state attorneys general to close the adult-services section of Backpage.com. The effort is being led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Craigslist has been subject to similar demands by the same group of state prosecutors. Earlier this month Craigslist shut down its erotic services section.
As reported by the New York Daily News:
The now 15-year-old former runaway, who goes by M.A. in the lawsuit, claims she was forced into prostitution by her pimp (who has since pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in federal court) when she was 14 years old. The pimp, Latasha Jewell McFarland, took pornographic photographs of M.A. and advertised her as a paid escort on Village Voice Media’s Backpage.com in 2009 and 2010.
. . .Robert Pedroli, lawyer for the Missouri teen, told the Daily News that the company was an “active participant in a crime which they know is going on but they’re failing to investigate because they’re making money.”
According to a recent report by Classified Intelligence Report, BackPage.com will earn about $17.5 million online in sex ads this year. The website is the number two site for “adult services” ads in the U.S. after craigslist. Pedroli said his client is seeking $150,000 for each pornographic photo that was published. Pedroli said there were at least four ads.
Village Voice Media issued a press release slamming Pedroli, calling him an “attorney attempting to milk a tragedy.”
“The claim that we knowingly assisted McFarland in committing criminal acts is a lie fabricated by a trial lawyer looking for a payday,” according to the statement, which added the pimp violated the website’s terms of use and that Backpage.com’s records even helped convict McFarland.
It also said that the company had previously testified in five underage cases.
“The responsibility, under the law, rests with the person supplying the post,” the statement read.
On Backpage.com, there are adult listings for escorts, phone sex and strippers.
Readers must agree to a disclaimer, which states they are 18 years of age or older and do not live in a community or jurisdiction where nude pictures or explicit material is prohibited. They must also agree to report any suspected exploitation of minors or human trafficking.
But Pedroli said by maintaining the forum, Village Voice Media is abetting and aiding sex trafficking. Pedroli said his client is “significantly damaged” from the ads.
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Copyright 2010 New York Daily News