Lawsuit filed against Dallas-based Backpage.com for pimping out teen

Dallas based Backpage.com, a classified website, is hit with a $1,000,000 lawsuit for allegedly pimping out a teenage girl. Her attorney says that she is one of many victims and wants to see the website shut down for good. The suit comes two weeks after backpage execs refused to testify before Senate subcommittee about its practices. Fox, Fours and Natalie. So Lease is here now with the story Natalie Well, Heather. The Senate report says 73% of all child trafficking reports received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involved backpage. And so far, execs have avoided criminal prosecution and even refused to testify before that Senate subcommittee to avoid self incrimination. But alleged victims now hope to hit them in the pocketbook. These are some of the ads on Backpage.com, 1\/2 $1,000,000,000 company with offices on the seventh floor of this Oaklawn building. They were co authors of these of these Post that were trafficking Children. Attorney Marc Lenahan represents an unidentified teen in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The girl, about 15 years old when, according to the lawsuit, she was lured into prostitution, her alleged pimp, took illicit photos and posted sex ads on backpage. Lenahan says the website allowed the ads knowing they solicited sex with a minor. They designed systems to look for words like Lolita Uh uh, young girl, school aged girl. And instead of flagging those ads and banning the person who is trying to get a credit card to post him, they would go through an automatically delete the words so they knew they were still posting. According to the lawsuit and Senate report Backpage doesn't deny criminal activity is going on. The company claims it merely hosts content, eliminating liability but Lenahan and others say it is responsible, accusing the website of sanitizing explicit ads like one from poster urban Pimp. According to the lawsuit, the company's CEO, Carl Ferrer, a Frisco, admitted toe editing the post to avoid detection by law enforcement in October for rare end to backpage controlling officers. Michael Lacey and James Larkin were arrested in Houston on pimping related charges. But in early December, a California judge threw out the charges, finding that the Communications Decency Act grants immunity toe website operators for posted content. Two weeks ago, backpage remove the adult section from the website, citing censorship. Lenahan worries the alleged trafficking hasn't stopped, but hopes the lawsuit moves his client and the website a step closer to closure. If we can show her that we were part of shutting down backpage, she'll be proud for the rest of her life about that now. He went to Backpages Oakland office for comment on the lawsuit and allegations. A woman who came to the door but didn't identify herself simply said no comment.