III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 439 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC 

should eliminate the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section of the classified advertising website Backpage.com. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2012 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. CORNYN, 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. RUBIO, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Village Voice Media 

Holdings, LLC should eliminate the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section of the classified advertising website 

Backpage.com. 

Whereas, according to the Department of Justice, there was 

a 59 percent increase in identified victims of human trafficking worldwide between 2009 and 2010; 

Whereas, according to the Department of Health and Human 

Services, human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world; 

Whereas experts estimate that up to 300,000 children are at 

risk of sexual exploitation each year in the United States; 


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•SRES 439 IS 

Whereas experts estimate that the average female victim of 

sex trafficking is forced into prostitution for the first 

time between the ages of 12 and 14, and the average 

male victim of sex trafficking is forced into prostitution 

for the first time between the ages of 11 and 13; 

Whereas the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 40 percent of incidents investigated by federally funded task 

forces on human trafficking between 2008 and 2010 involved prostitution of a child or the sexual exploitation of 

a child; 

Whereas, according to the classified advertising consultant 

Advanced Interactive Media Group (referred to in this 

preamble as ‘‘AIM Group’’), Backpage.com is the leading 

United States website for prostitution advertising; 

Whereas Backpage.com is owned by Village Voice Media 

Holdings, LLC (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘Village 

Voice Media’’); 

Whereas the National Association of Attorneys General 

tracked more than 50 cases in which charges were filed 

against persons who were trafficking or attempting to 

traffic minors on Backpage.com; 

Whereas Myrelle and Tyrelle Locket— 

(1) in February 2011 were each sentenced to 4 

years in prison on charges of trafficking of persons for 

forced labor or services for operating an Illinois sex trafficking ring that included minors; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Arthur James Chappell— 

(1) in March 2011 was sentenced to 28 years in 

prison on charges of sex trafficking of a minor for runVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:14 Apr 26, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR439.IS SR439

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ning a prostitution ring with at least 1 juvenile victim in 

Minnesota; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Brandon Quincy Thompson— 

(1) in April 2011 was sentenced to life imprisonment 

on charges of sex trafficking a child by force for running 

a South Dakota prostitution ring that involved multiple 

underage girls; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Clint Eugene Wilson— 

(1) in May 2011 was sentenced to 20 years in prison 

on charges of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, 

or coercion for forcing a 16-year-old Dallas girl into prostitution, threatening to assault her, and forcing her to 

get a tattoo that branded her as his property; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Demetrius Darnell Homer— 

(1) in August 2011 was sentenced to 20 years in 

prison on charges of sex trafficking of a minor for violently forcing a 14-year-old Atlanta girl into prostitution, 

controlling her through beatings, threatening her with a 

knife, shocking her with a taser in front of another underage girl whom he had placed in prostitution, and forcing her to engage in prostitution while she was pregnant 

with his child; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Leighton Martin Curtis— 

(1) in February 2012 was sentenced to 30 years in 

prison on charges of sex trafficking of a minor and production of child pornography for pimping a 15-year-old 

girl throughout Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina to 


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approximately 20 to 35 customers each week for more 

than a year; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas Ronnie Leon Tramble— 

(1) in March 2012 was sentenced to 15 years in 

prison on charges of sex trafficking through force, fraud, 

and coercion for forcing more than 5 young women and 

minors into prostitution over a period of at least 5 years 

throughout the State of Washington, during which time 

period he constantly subjected the victims to brutal physical and emotional abuse; and 

(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 

Whereas, according to AIM Group, 80 percent of online prostitution advertising revenue for the month of February 

2012 was attributed to Backpage.com; 

Whereas, according to AIM Group, the number of 

Backpage.com advertisements for ‘‘escorts’’ and ‘‘body 

rubs’’, a thinly veiled code for prostitution, increased by 

nearly 5 percent between February 2011 and February 

2012; 

Whereas, according to AIM Group, Backpage.com earned an 

estimated $26,000,000 from prostitution advertisements 

between February 2011 and February 2012; 

Whereas Backpage.com vice president Carl Ferrer acknowledged to the National Association of Attorneys General 

that the company identifies more than 400 ‘‘adult entertainment’’ posts that may involve minors each month; 

Whereas the actual number of ‘‘adult entertainment’’ posts 

on Backpage.com each month that involve minors may be 

far greater than 400; 


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Whereas, according to the National Association of Attorneys 

General, Missouri investigators found that the review 

procedures of Backpage.com are ineffective in policing illegal activity; 

Whereas, in September 2010, Craigslist.com removed the 

‘‘adult services’’ section of its website following calls for 

removal from law enforcement and advocacy organizations; 

Whereas, by September 16, 2011, 51 attorneys general of 

States and territories of the United States had called on 

Backpage.com to shut down the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ 

section of its website; 

Whereas, on September 16, 2011, the Tri-City Herald of the 

State of Washington published an editorial entitled ‘‘Attorneys general target sexual exploitation of kids’’, writing, ‘‘ . . . we’d also encourage the owners of 

Backpage.com to give the attorneys general what they 

are asking for’’; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2011, 36 clergy members from 

across the United States published an open letter to Village Voice Media in the New York Times, calling on the 

company to shut down the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section 

of Backpage.com; 

Whereas, on December 2, 2011, 55 anti-trafficking organizations called on Village Voice Media to shut down the 

‘‘adult entertainment’’ section of Backpage.com; 

Whereas, on December 29, 2011, the Seattle Times published 

an editorial entitled ‘‘Murders strengthen case against 

Backpage.com’’, writing, ‘‘Backpage.com cannot continue 

to dismiss the women and children exploited through the 

website, nor the 3 women in Detroit who are dead posVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:14 Apr 26, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR439.IS SR439

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sibly because they were trafficked on the site. Revenue 

from the exploitation and physical harm of women and 

minors is despicable. Village Voice Media, which owns 

Backpage.com, must shut this site down. Until then, all 

the pressure that can be brought to bear must continue.’’; 

Whereas, on March 18, 2012, Nicholas Kristof of the New 

York Times wrote in an opinion piece entitled ‘‘Where 

Pimps Peddle Their Goods’’ that ‘‘[t]here are no simple 

solutions to end sex trafficking, but it would help to have 

public pressure on Village Voice Media to stop carrying 

prostitution advertising.’’; 

Whereas, on March 29, 2012, Change.org delivered a petition 

signed by more than 240,000 individuals to Village Voice 

Media, calling on the company to shut down the ‘‘adult 

entertainment’’ section of Backpage.com; 

Whereas, on January 12, 2012, John Buffalo Mailer, son of 

Village Voice co-founder Norman Mailer, joined the 

Change.org petition to shut down the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section of Backpage.com, stating, ‘‘For the sake 

of the Village Voice brand and for the sake of the legacy 

of a great publication, take down the adult section of 

Backpage.com, before the Village Voice must answer for 

yet another child who is abused and exploited because 

you did not do enough to prevent it.’’; 

Whereas, on March 30, 2012, a private equity firm owned by 

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. completed a deal to sell its 

16 percent ownership stake in Village Voice Media back 

to management; 

Whereas, in M.A. ex rel. P.K. v. Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC (809 F. Supp. 2d 1041 (E.D. Mo. 2011)), the 


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United States District Court for the Eastern District of 

Missouri held that section 230 of the Communications 

Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) (as added by section 509 

of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (Public Law 

104–104; 110 Stat. 137)) protects Backpage.com from 

civil liability for the ‘‘horrific victimization’’ the teenage 

plaintiff suffered at the hands of the criminal who posted 

on the website to perpetrate her vicious crimes; and 

Whereas the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (Public 

Law 104–104; 110 Stat. 56) and the amendments made 

by that Act do not preclude a service provider from voluntarily removing a portion of a website known to facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors in order to protect 

children in the United States: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the efforts of law enforcement 

3 agencies to provide training to law enforcement 

4 agents on how to identify victims of sex trafficking, 

5 investigate cases of sex trafficking, prosecute sex 

6 trafficking offenses, and rescue victims of sex traf7 ficking; 

8 (2) supports services for trafficking victims pro9 vided by the Federal Government, State and local 

10 governments, and non-profit and faith-based organi11 zations, including medical, legal, mental health, 

12 housing, and other social services; and 

13 (3) calls on Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC 

14 to act as a responsible global citizen and immeVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:14 Apr 26, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR439.IS SR439

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•SRES 439 IS 

1 diately eliminate the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section 

2 of the classified advertising website Backpage.com to 

3 terminate the website’s rampant facilitation of online 

4 sex trafficking. 

Æ 


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