FBI Seizes Website Linked to Sex Crimes; Owners Donated to Democrats
By The Daily Wire. On Friday, the U.S. government seized Backpage.com as part of a law enforcement action by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies after the site came under intense legal scrutiny for allegations of facilitating sex trafficking and underage prostitution.
An FBI official said that there was “law enforcement activity” at the home of Michael Lacey, one of the website’s founders, at his home in Arizona, Reuters reported. The seizure banner on the website stated:
backpage.com and affiliated websites have been seized as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center.
Other agencies participating in and supporting the enforcement action include the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the office of the California Attorney General, and the office of the Texas Attorney General.
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The owners of the website have given tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats in recent years, including a Super PAC backed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the failed presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, Democratic candidate for governor in Arizona David Garcia, and the Arizona Democratic Party (Read more from “FBI Seizes Website Linked to Sex Crimes; Owners Donated to Democrats” HERE)
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Online Advertising Site Backpage.com Was Seized by the FBI
By Business Insider. People navigating to the popular classified advertising website Backpage.com on Friday afternoon were stopped by a notice informing them that the site “and all affiliated websites” had been seized by federal authorities.
The site is known for facilitating adult sex ads, and has recently been involved in a number of lawsuits, including one in which a minor alleged that the company edited the contents of a sex ad that her trafficker posted, in order to make her sound like an adult.
Authorities — including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, five other federal agencies, and four state agencies — involved in the case have not shared the exact reason for the seizure. The Department of Justice declined to comment beyond the information in the notice.
The seizure comes a little over a month after Congress passed a law creating stronger rules and penalties to prevent websites from facilitating sex trafficking. On March 23, Craiglist preemptively removed its personals section in fear of violating the law, which penalizes wrongdoers with a fine, up to 10 years in prison, or both. (Read more from “Online Advertising Site Backpage.com Was Seized by the FBI” HERE)
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