2 Investigators: Authorities Say Classified Ads Website Used For Prostitution
(CBS) --Alleged serial killer Darren Vann used an online classified advertising service to lure at least one of his victims to her death.
2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports the company has come under scrutiny in the past from law enforcement officials who say it's being used to promote prostitution.
Backpage.com's adult section is full of what appear to be thinly veiled ads for prostitution.
Police say that's how Darren Vann contacted 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy, later meeting her at a Motel 6 where he allegedly killed her.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says it is a "dangerous environment" for both the prostitute and the customer.
"We've had plenty of cases where someone's waiting there with another person with a gun to rob the person and on the other end of it, the escort never knows what they are walking into," Dart said.
A lawsuit just filed in Boston alleges that Backpage.com promotes, "illegal sex trafficking" including the "sexual exploitation of children." The suit is filed on behalf of two under aged girls. Both claim they were raped "hundreds of times" as a result connections made through Backpage.
Dart says his deputies have made over 600 arrests in the last four years after deputies responded to ads on Backpage.com. He says it was prostitution every single time.
"I think that anybody who sees a case like this and this horrible thing happened would then feel strongly there needs to be changes," Dart said.
Online classified's with adult ads have previously been protected by court rulings, although some like Craigslist voluntarily stopped running the ads.
An attorney for Backpage says it cannot comment on the pending lawsuit but says it's at the forefront of intelligently fighting online sex trafficking.
The attorney says they will cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation of the Vann case.