State attorneys general go after Internet sex trafficking

Note: The following letter to U.S. Senators about Internet sex crimes was signed by Montana Attorney General Tim Fox.

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July 23, 2013

Dear Senator Rockefeller, Senator Thune, Representative Upton, and Representative Waxman:

Every day, children in the United States are sold for sex. In instance after instance, state and local authorities discover that the vehicles for advertising the victims of the child sex trade to the world are online classified ad services, such as Backpage.com.

The involvement of these advertising companies is not incidental — these companies have constructed their business models around income gained from participants in the sex trade. But, as it has most recently been interpreted, the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“CDA”) prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from prosecuting these companies.

This must change. The undersigned Attorneys General respectfully request that the U.S. Congress amend the CDA so that it restores to State and local authorities their traditional jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those who promote prostitution and endanger our children.

It is ironic that the CDA, which was intended to protect children from indecent material on the Internet, is now used as a shield by those who intentionally profit from prostitution and crimes against children. Federal courts have broadly interpreted the immunity provided by the CDA, and recently the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington held that the CDA preempts state criminal law.

As online advertising of child prostitution goes unchecked, sex traffickers are able to expand their businesses, magnifying the scope of the problem. In the last few months alone, law enforcement agencies throughout the nation have linked sex-trafficking operations to Internet advertisers.

For example, on March 28, Miami police arrested a man for advertising the sex services of a 13-year-old girl on Backpage.com. The perpetrator had tattooed his name across the girl’s eyelids, marking her as his property. Two months earlier, two men were arrested in Fairfax County, Va., for prostituting four minors on Backpage.com. And on April 10, four males and one female were arrested in St. Paul, Minn., for running a prostitution ring of eight girls and women ages 15 to 40. The girls and women were advertised on Backpage.com. These examples offer just a small sampling of the countless instances of child sex trafficking that occurs every day in the United States.

In order to better combat such crimes, we recommend that 47 U.S.C. § 230(e)(1) be amended to the following: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair the enforcement of section 223 or 231 of this title, chapter 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating to sexual exploitation of children) of Title 18, or any other Federal or State criminal statute.” (Note: “or State” added.)

Federal enforcement alone has proven insufficient to stem the growth of Internet-facilitated child sex trafficking. Those on the front lines of the battle against the sexual exploitation of children — state and local law enforcement — must be granted the authority to investigate and prosecute those who facilitate these horrible crimes.

Respectfully,

Chris Koster Missouri Attorney General

Marty Jackley South Dakota Attorney General

Bob Ferguson Washington Attorney General

Luther Strange Alabama Attorney General

Michael Geraghty Alaska Attorney Genera

Tom Hornel Arizona Attorney General

Dustin McDaniel Arkansas Attorney Genera

Kamala Harrisl California Attorney General

John Suthers Colorado Attorney General

Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III  Delaware Attorney General

Pamela Jo Bondi Florida Attorney General

Samuel S. Olens Georgia Attorney General

Lenny Rapadas Guam Attorney General

David Louie Hawaii Attorney General

Lawrence Wasden Idaho Attorney General

Lisa Madigan Illinois Attorney General

Gregory Zoeller Indiana Attorney General

Tom Miller Iowa Attorney General

Derek Schmidt Kansas Attorney General

Jack Conway Kentucky Attorney General

James “Buddy” Caldwell Louisiana Attorney General

Janet Mills Maine Attorney General

Douglas F. Gansler Maryland Attorney General

Martha Coakley Massachusetts Attorney General

Bill Schuette Michigan Attorney General

Lori Swanson Minnesota Attorney General

Jim Hood Mississippi Attorney General

Tim Fox Montana Attorney General

Jon Bruning Nebraska Attorney General

Catherine Cortez Masto Nevada Attorney General

Joseph Foster New Hampshire Attorney General

John J. Hoffman Acting New Jersey Attorney General

Gary King New Mexico Attorney General

Eric T. Schneiderman New York Attorney General

Roy Cooper North Carolina Attorney General

Wayne Stenehjem North Dakota Attorney General

Mike DeWine Ohio Attorney General

Scott Pruitt Oklahoma Attorney General

Ellen F. Rosenblum Oregon Attorney General

Kathleen Kane Pennsylvania Attorney General

Peter Kilmartin Rhode Island Attorney General

Alan Wilson South Carolina Attorney General

Robert E. Cooper, Jr. Tennessee Attorney General

Greg Abbott Texas Attorney General

John Swallow Utah Attorney General

William H. Sorrell Vermont Attorney General

Vincent Frazer Virgin Islands Attorney General

Patrick Morrisey West Virginia Attorney General

Peter K. Michael Acting Wyoming Attorney General