McCaskill Aims to Arm Local Prosecutors with Data from her Bipartisan Investigation into Sex Trafficking and Backpage

Press Release

Aiming to arm local prosecutors with data from her two-year bipartisan investigation into Backpage that found the company knowingly facilitated sex trafficking, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is today offering more than a million pages of materials from the investigation to local prosecutors and law enforcement--a move made legally possible after the U.S. Senate last week passed a resolution authorizing the release of all materials from the investigation.

"As a former sex crimes prosecutor in Kansas City, I have been proud to continue that work, combatting sexual violence, in the U.S. Senate," wrote McCaskill in the letter to law enforcement. "I've learned during my time in the Senate how powerful effective oversight can be when we work in a bipartisan manner. As we've seen in this investigation, such work can put new tools in the hands of local law enforcement to better protect our families."

McCaskill's letter continues: "As one of the law enforcement officials with the authority to bring criminal charges in the fight against sex trafficking in Missouri communities, I urge you to review this report and the evidence it discusses. I also invite you to contact my office to request the full documents Backpage provided to PSI during our investigation, the full 1.1 million pages of which are now available to law enforcement officials and other authorized entities."

Last week, McCaskill and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation to ensure justice for victims of sex trafficking and ensure that websites such as Backpage, which knowingly facilitate sex trafficking, can be held liable and brought to justice. And last month McCaskill, along with Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Tom Carper of Delaware, announced that they recommended the Department of Justice launch a criminal review of Backpage.com.

Portman and McCaskill, the chairman and ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during the 114th Congress, began their bipartisan investigation of sex trafficking on the Internet in April 2015. With estimated annual revenues of more than $150 million, Backpage is a market leader in commercial sex advertising and has been linked to hundreds of reported cases of sex trafficking, including the trafficking of children.

On January 10, 2017, the Subcommittee held a hearing and issued a report, "Backpage.com's Knowing Facilitation of Online Sex Trafficking," detailing how Backpage knowingly facilitated criminal sex trafficking of vulnerable women and young girls and covered up evidence of these crimes in order to increase its own profits.

Full text of the letter below:

Dear [Missouri Law Enforcement]:

On January 9, 2017, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) released a report entitled, "Backpage.com's Knowing Facilitation of Online Sex Trafficking." In this report, Sen. Rob Portman and I provide proof--received during our nearly two-year investigation--that Backpage, the leading online marketplace for commercial sex, has moved beyond serving as a mere host of content created by others. Instead, our report shows that Backpage has knowingly concealed evidence of criminality by systematically editing its "adult" ads. In this way, Backpage may have sacrificed its immunity from liability under the Communications Decency Act, the shield that has prevented state-level prosecution of Backpage in the past. The PSI report and its exhibits are available for download here:

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/reports?c=115

As a former sex crimes prosecutor in Kansas City, I have been proud to continue that work, combatting sexual violence, in the U.S. Senate. I've learned during my time in the Senate how powerful effective oversight can be when we work in a bipartisan manner. As we've seen in this investigation, such work can put new tools in the hands of local law enforcement to better protect our families.

As one of the law enforcement officials with the authority to bring criminal charges in the fight against sex trafficking in Missouri communities, I urge you to review this report and the evidence it discusses. I also invite you to contact my office to request the full documents Backpage provided to PSI during our investigation, the full 1.1 million pages of which are now available to law enforcement officials and other authorized entities. Already, a federal grand jury has convened in Arizona to consider criminal charges against Backpage officials, the State of California has filed a criminal complaint, and multiple survivors of trafficking--relying in part on the PSI report--have filed suit to recover civil damages. I encourage you to consider whether your office can join these efforts to pursue justice against Backpage.

Sincerely,

Claire McCaskill

United States Senator

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