The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office is sending letters to more than a thousand Portland area victims who may have been sex trafficked on the website Backpage.com and its sister website CityXGuide.
The site launched in 2004, focused mostly on classified ads. But over time, the majority of its revenue came from its ‘adult services’ section. Law enforcement investigators considered it one of the largest online prostitution sites in the world, grossing an estimated $500-million-dollars from the sexual exploitation of countless victims.
In 2018 the federal government seized the site and shut it down. Two of the site’s owners were sentenced to 10 years in prison, a third was sentenced to five years prison.
The government also seized the assets of the site including bitcoin, which was used as payment for sex trafficking related advertisements and posts. The Department of Justice is now using the money and assets to help survivors heal.
Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Glen (JR) Ujifusa, who runs MCDA’s Human Trafficking Division, is spearheading the effort to let local survivors know there may be money available for them to help pay for healing.
Under his direction, the office is reaching out to individuals who may have been exploited and victimized. We are creating a page on our website with helpful links and sending out letters with information on how to apply for the money along with a list of other resources to help them.
He said: “Our office and the Human Trafficking Team strives to be victim-centered and trauma informed. This proactive effort is just one of the ways we try to bring some justice to victims of trafficking. Backpage affected thousands of individuals and was one of the main ways victims were trafficked between 2004 and 2018. We hope we can reach those individuals and provide them with the support they need to help them receive some compensation. We know this does not compare to the physical and mental trauma that has been done. We will continue to support victims of trafficking and work to hold traffickers and buyers accountable for their crimes.”
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said, “I am proud of the work of our office to support victims and hope these funds help victims going forward.”
The name of the federal government program that will pay money to survivors is a bit awkward but we are including it here so the public will know it is real. It is called Backpage Remission.
In addition, on our webpage we will include a link that allows victims to connect with attorneys providing free legal help with this process.
It is our sincere hope that everyone who was trafficked on Backpage will apply. Below is a link to the federal webpage which explains the program in greater detail.
https://www.backpageremission.com/en
Need free legal help? Click the link below:
https://www.backpageremissionnetwork.org/
Source: Multnomah County District Attorney's Office