{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/mccaskill-panel-threatens-criminal-action-against-ceo-of-sex-ad-website", "McCaskill panel threatens criminal action against CEO of sex-ad website", "2015-11-19", "2015", "2015-11", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "McCaskill panel threatens criminal action against CEO of sex-ad website \r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                Thursday, November 19, 2015\r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            \r\n                  \r\n                    By:\r\n                    Deirdre Shesgreen\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            WASHINGTON  A Senate investigation into child sex traffickingled by Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Claire McCaskill of Missouri took a dramatic turn Thursday,when the two lawmakers charged the CEO of a major sex advertising website with flouting a congressional subpoenaand suggested they would push for criminal proceedings against him.\r\nPortman charged that the website, Backpage.com, sits at the center of this online black market for sex trafficking, including the sale of minors for sex.\r\nMore than 400 cases of child sex trafficking across 47 states have been linked to the website  including at least six inMissouriin the past three years, according to the Senate probe and McCaskill's office.Portman and McCaskill opened theprobe seven months ago, throughtheir roles on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs' investigatory subcommittee. Portman is the chairman, and McCaskill is the ranking Democrat.\r\nAt their first hearing Thursday,Portman and McCaskill saidthey had also uncovered evidence the websites employees might be editing ads before they go online  possibly to hide evidence of an illegal service or transaction. The edits could include, for example, deleting a photograph or a word that indicated someone offering escort services was under 18.\r\n\"We have received information indicating that Backpage has built a hugely successful business in part by posting advertisements of children and other victims of human trafficking on its website,\" McCaskill said.McCaskill began her remarks with the story of a 15-year-old girl who escapedfromtwo St. Louis-area sextraffickers, after they used Backpage.com to sell her and other girls online.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVictim of trafficking, 15, said girl died in her arms\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOfficials fromBackpage.com did not respond to messages left at company headquarters in Dallas. And in a tense moment at Thursdays hearing, there was dead silence in the room when Portman called the firms CEO, Carl Ferrer, to testify.\r\nFerrer did not appear, despite being subpoenaed. Portman said Ferrers attorneys informed the committee on Wednesday that the CEO was on an international business trip and would not be able to attend.\r\nBut Portman said Ferrer's refusal to appear was \"a clear act of contempt. Calling Ferrers move truly extraordinary, Portman said he and McCaskill would consider referring his action to the Justice Department for criminal contempt charges.\r\nIf Backpage thinks theyre going to go quietly into the night, they are sadly mistaken, said McCaskill.\r\nThe hearing put a spotlight on the growing problem of human trafficking in Missouri and across the country,and Backpages role in this shadowy arena. Human trafficking  selling labor or sexual services of minors or coerced adults  has flourished with the advent of the Internet, which provides anonymity to traffickers and customers. And child sex trafficking is particularly horrific, with reports of children as young as 11 being sold into virtual slavery.\r\nAccording to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there has been an 846 percent increase in reports of suspected child sex trafficking the past five years, a spike the center says is directly correlated to the increased use of the Internet to sell children for sex. More than half of sex-trafficking victims in the United States are 17 years old or younger, according to the Justice Department.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nState task force to tackle human trafficking\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAt Thursdays hearing, Yiota Souras, general counsel for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said that so far this year, 1,800 missing child cases reported to her organization have involved possible child sex trafficking. She and others said Backpage.com is the biggest player in what has become a lucrative industry.\r\nBecause there are so many child sex trafficking ads on Backpage, our staff search Backpage first when a missing child is at risk of being trafficked, she told the committee. The center says 71% of the child sex trafficking reports it receives involve ads posted on Backpage.\r\nSouras recounted one heart-wrenching instance in which the mother of a missing 16-year-old girl saw an ad on Backpage.com of her daughter selling escort services. The mother wrote to Backpage.com employees, begging them to take the ad down.\r\nShe is being pimped out by her old boyfriend, the mother wrote, according to Souras. For Gods sake, she is only sixteen.\r\nThe company refused, Souras said, adding that her group has raised these issues with Backpage officials for years, to no avail. The company, for example, has refused to require basic validationsuch as an email or phone number for customers wanting to post ads for \"escort\" services. They also dont store computer and other identifyingdata fromits advertisingcustomers, even though such information could help law enforcement track traffickers.\r\nBackpage  has more stringent rules to sell a pet or a motorcycle or a boat than for its escort services, Souras said.\r\nPortman and McCaskill quietly launched their sex trafficking investigation earlier this year, andThursday was their first public hearing on the matter. The panel is examining the broader problem of sex trafficking on the Internet, but for now, their fire is aimed squarelyat Backpage and its CEO.\r\nAt Thursday's hearing, lawmakers and witnesses said the company was aggressively fighting lawsuits and other efforts that would uncover how much the company is doing to combat the use of its site for child sex trafficking and how much money it makes off ads that are linked to such criminal activity.\r\nMcCaskill said the subcommittee obtained information showing Backpages revenue for 2014 was $135 million and the firm is expected to bring in more than $153 million this year. But its not clear how much of that money flows from its escort and adult-services ads.\r\nShe also said the website's procedures seem to involve leaving ads up even if employees suspect they might involve sex trafficking. Oneguidance from Backpage managers included this direction, according to McCaskill:\"If in doubt about underage,the process for now should be to accept the ad.\"\r\nLawmakers on the panel discussed steps Congress could take to crack down on Backpage, such as updating the Communications Decency Act thatregulates porn on the Internet. But the next step is likely to be either civil or criminal contempt proceedings against Backpage executives.\r\nIn an interview, Portman said he and McCaskill planned to meet soon to discuss possiblecontempt proceedings. The full homeland security committee would have to approve a contemptresolution, followed by the full Senate. If approved, that could trigger a federal prosecution.\r\nHe could have come. He could have plead the 5th, Portman said of Ferrer and his right not to make self-incriminating statements. That he did not, Portman added, is evidence of willful defiance of the Senates process.\r\n            \r\n             \r\n            \r\n            \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/mccaskill-panel-threatens-criminal-action-against-ceo-of-sex-ad-website"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3141459785401821, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}