Young Girls Sold for Sex on Backpage.com: Part 1

we visit a harrowing Tale one teenage daughter on the darkest of Journeys disappearing into the internet sex trade our Nightline investigation into the controversial classified site backpage.com accused of making sex trafficking possible in one family's fight for justice here again is our special edition daughters for sale with ABC's Gloria Riviera when I grow up I'd like to be a doctor they are the sweet dreams of a seventh grade girl something I would like to do in my life is go to Africa but what lay ahead was a nightmare her parents never saw coming yeah they took everything from my little girl I live in an American Town how can my kid be sold on the internet a few short years after this video was taken the 15-year-old who will call Natalie would be sold for sex through the website backpage.com how many encounters do you think you had during that time over 150 over 150 yeah would that have been possible without back page no way this Saga LED Natalie to join a major lawsuit against Backpage with other girls like her hey ready hang on is there spers today Natalie is 21 years old and a mother herself why your decision to speak publicly I don't just do it for myself I do it for other families similar to Craigslist back page is a basic classified ad site but with racy adult sections like escorts and body rubs technically legal services that law enforcement has called thinly veiled code for prostitution the majority of children who were sold for sex in the United States today was trafficked using back page and now back page is also under investigation by the US Senate this is one of the last photos taken of Natalie before she made the choice that would change her life forever she ran away from home I just wanted to get my parents attention I was really scatterbrained at 15 when her parents found the farewell letter she left behind they called the police I was in shocked gone why where you know how Natalie took a bus 30 m to downtown Seattle where she says she met an older girl at a Youth Shelter who introduced her to life on the streets a pimp picked us up and then took us to their his house and then that's when I got raped for the first time after it happened he he threw a towel at me and um some carpet cleaner and told me to clean up the carpet cuz there was blood you were a virgin yeah this first traumatic encounter sent Natalie down a dark path a path that eventually led her to this man 32-year-old barudi Hobson she says he was kind to her offered her a place to stay I had like started talking to him like confided in him a little bit bit about how stressed out I was but soon the dynamic dangerously changed he had asked me if I had ever worked before and then he told me that I wouldn't be on the streets and then that's when back page came into play what did he say to you about back page said it's safer said it's easier not to get caught and through ads titled well worth it 150 an hour and it won't take long at all Natalie says she started earning $4,000 a weekend for sex handing over all the cash to Hobson he started getting physically abusive and he would sleep in the living room next to the front door so I couldn't like leave how often did you work every single day it's too simple asked you if you're 18 or older I mean a simple yes click was about as far as that went it tore our family apart Natalie's Father Tom says he would spend his days driving around Seattle the the dreams of the you know her going to college searching desperately for his missing girl day after day yeah he'd learned she might be working the streets the idea alone pushed him to a Breaking Point what ran through my mind I was what I was going to do and how I was going to handle it when I found her it wouldn't have been good for the pimp I know that later Natalie's parents found out she wasn't even on the streets but being sold online what was it like for you to realize what was going on with back page when you hear that your 15-year-old child is posting an ad for sex or for rape in her case and that she's getting 25 to 30 calls an hour and you're thinking okay well how many of these are she having to answer I mean how many times a day is my child being raped right now US law protects back page from being held legally responsible for what users post on its site if someone advertises a faulty motorcycle motorcycle the buyer of that motorcycle shouldn't be able to Sue back page merely for posting the ad under the law there is no difference between back page posting the advertisement for the faulty motorcycle and posting the advertisement for the underage girl back page based in Dallas says they voluntarily put in place a multi-tiered system for screening ads which includes employing moderators a filter for keywords and a user reported flagging system in 2012 their attorney told Nightline online child exploitation exists and the best tools to fight it are also online and backpage.com is currently one of the very best tools to fight it age 18 but Seattle's Police Department vice squad tells us they find underage girls listed on back page all the time including Natalie who they rescued in a hotel sting set up through her Backpage ad 108 days after she went missing you're in his hotel room mhm he's says I know who you are Natalie instantly I saw storms of cops outside one of those cops this man detective Bill guy yeah see if you're available I remember meeting detective guy almost remind me of my dad detective Guyer formed a special bond with Natalie he helped her through barudi Hobson's trial Hobson sentenced to 26 years for promoting the commercial sex abuse of a minor I tell her and every other girl that even though they don't want to go to court I'd like to get them to the point where they can't wait to get on the stand and and point them out and say that's the piece of crap that did this to me today detective guy is still on a mission with the Seattle vice squad they've agreed to take us inside a Backpage sting what we want to do on here is we want to post an ad and we want to do it under escorts like most other members of this squad this detective frequently goes undercover so has asked that we not show his full face I am at least 18 years of age or older but all you have to do is say I agree and then continue one click and you're through that correct we're here to see what happens when you post a Backpage ad that suggests an underage girl is involved the detective creates an ad for an 18-year-old girl named Angel adding a critical detail the mention of a younger friend and then here's the kicker right ask about my younger friend within minutes of pressing post the ad is up and running in just minutes we have an ad that essentially is advertising an underage girl that's way if you can kind of figure out what they want as far as that we've gotten several phone calls several texts another call now they're really coming in hey beautiful are you Angel oh right then there's another one it's 718 it hasn't even been up for half an hour this is crazy a full 24 hours later we're in a Seattle hotel with the vice squad Angel's ad is still up and running it has yet to be taken down by back page we are using the fruits from what we planted yesterday they've brought and Katie an undercover cop who will pretend to be Angel so this is our ad that we posted 24 hours ago but it's still getting responses and Katie is riding back to see if these guys will come meet an underage girl here for sex she calls back a man who left a voicemail about the ad hello she tells him she's 16 and the friend who will be joining them only 15 okay look forward to it okay I'm going to come to the window okay I'm in the window like the very far end kind of near like the flag poles me and my friend are standing there in the window we're going to wait to you the scenario has been set up this guy's walking up right now he thinks he's coming up to meet a 15 and 16-year-old girl for sex walk he's been like a a royal blue shirt and he has a fedora on stay here stay here he tried to bat please hey he just relax relax relax relax relx put your hand behind your back please you're underr so these girls that you were coming here to see today how old were they they said something that they what did they say they said they're 16 also how old is that girl 14 15 13 that doesn't bother you at all so I didn't I just thought that they're just meeting and I just wanted to what meeting in what play Scrabble no no no I just wanted to make more friends out here sir the man pled not guilty to attempted commercial sex abuse of a minor Backpage stings like this are becoming common place across the country Backpage tells us they make sure to always cooperate with law enforcement investigations but for Natalie and other girls suing the site it's not about catching clients but holding the man behind it accountable he's just as accountable as the pimp that's holder in my mind Carl fer when we come back see what he does when we track him down overseas she was trafficked on back page

Channel: ABC News

Views: 4,456,813

Keywords: backpage, sex, slaves, natalie, runaway, prostitution, Carl, Ferrer, website, sold, for, young, girls, abc, abcnews

Id: lFM66ygJut0

Length: 10min 19sec (619 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 06 2016