SC Joins Effort Against Alleged Prostitution Ads on Website

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined attorneys general from 45 other states in trying to stop what he says are "glaringly obvious ads for prostitution" on the website Backpage.com.

Backpage is a website of classified ads, where people can sell, buy and trade goods and services. It's the services in the "adult" section of the website that has the states' attorneys general taking action.

They've sent Backpage a letter asking it to shut down the "escorts" section of its site, or provide details about what the site is doing to remove illegal ads for sex, especially those that feature minors.

"Recently, in Massachusetts, they found a 15-year-old girl that was being put in an advertisement and sold for $100 to $150 an hour with adult men," Wilson says. "There was another state where two young girls, who were teenagers, were found to have been threatened and coerced by two adults into prostituting themselves on this very website."

The attorneys general say there have been more than 50 cases in 22 states over the last three years of charges being filed for trafficking or attempting to traffic minors on Backpage.com.

Wilson says people have been arrested recently in Charleston and Myrtle Beach on charges of running prostitution rings using the website.

"We're trying to get to these websites to let them know that, you know, what's going on on your websites is not a good thing and we're watching you and we want you to work with us to help curb this type of criminal activity," Wilson says.

An attorney for Backpage says he's working on a response to the letter from the attorneys general. That response is due by September 14th.

But the site says it already takes steps to prevent illegal activity. On the site, Backpage.com spokesman Steve Suskin says, "Backpage.com is committed to preventing those who are intent on misusing the site for illegal purposes. We have implemented a series of new safety enhancements over the past several months to better protect our communities and will continue to further increase our safety practices."

Those steps include referring any ads that might contain minors to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

But the attorneys general say the website's actions aren't having any effect.

South Carolina was involved in a similar effort, along with other states, against the website Craigslist, and actually filed a lawsuit against the site. Craigslist eliminated its adult services section in 2009 in response to the pressure from the states.

UPDATE Oct. 17: Alan Wilson said that Backpage.com still has not responded to requests from now 48 attorneys general, but that the coalition has extended their response time and there is no definite deadline for change. He said removing the escort ads all together is the ultimate goal and that the states could potentially file a lawsuit. Wilson said his office will start following up on the legal grounds more in the coming week.