IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 646 
Expressing the sense of the House that Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC 
should eliminate the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section of the classified adver-
tising website Backpage.com. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2012 
Mr. TURNER of New York submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House that Village Voice Media 
Holdings, LLC should eliminate the ‘‘adult entertain-
ment’’ 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 traf-
ficking worldwide between 2009 and 2010; 
Whereas according to the Department of Health and Human 
Services, human trafficking is the fastest-growing crimi-
nal 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; 
Whereas experts estimate that the average female victim of 
sex trafficking is forced into prostitution for the first 
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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 per-
cent of incidents investigated by federally funded task 
forces on human trafficking between 2008 and 2010 in-
volved 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 traf-
ficking 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 run-
ning a prostitution ring with at least 1 juvenile victim in 
Minnesota; and 
(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 
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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 pros-
titution, 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 vio-
lently 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 un-
derage girl whom he had placed in prostitution, and forc-
ing 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 pro-
duction of child pornography for pimping a 15-year-old 
girl throughout Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina to 
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— 
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(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 phys-
ical and emotional abuse; and 
(2) used Backpage.com to facilitate the prostitution; 
Whereas according to AIM Group, 80 percent of online pros-
titution 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 acknowl-
edged to the National Association of Attorneys General 
that the company identifies more than 400 ‘‘adult enter-
tainment’’ 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; 
Whereas according to the National Association of Attorneys 
General, Missouri investigators found that the review 
procedures of Backpage.com are ineffective in policing il-
legal activity; 
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Whereas in September 2010, Craigslist.com removed the 
‘‘adult services’’ section of its website following calls for 
removal from law enforcement and advocacy organiza-
tions; 
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 ‘‘At-
torneys general target sexual exploitation of kids’’, writ-
ing, 
‘‘. . . 
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 Vil-
lage 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 organiza-
tions 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 pos-
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 
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the pressure that can be brought to bear must con-
tinue.’’; 
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 entertain-
ment’’ 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 Hold-
ings, LLC (809 F. Supp. 2d 1041 (E.D. Mo. 2011)), the 
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 
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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 vol-
untarily removing a portion of a website known to facili-
tate the sexual exploitation of minors in order to protect 
children in the United States: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the efforts of law enforcement 
agencies to provide training to law enforcement 
agents on how to identify victims of sex trafficking, 
investigate cases of sex trafficking, prosecute sex 
trafficking offenses, and rescue victims of sex traf-
ficking; 
(2) supports services for trafficking victims pro-
vided by the Federal Government, State and local 
governments, and nonprofit and faith-based organi-
zations, including medical, legal, mental health, 
housing, and other social services; and 
(3) calls on Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC 
to act as a responsible global citizen and imme-
diately eliminate the ‘‘adult entertainment’’ section 
of the classified advertising website Backpage.com to 
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terminate the website’s rampant facilitation of online 
sex trafficking. 
Æ 
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