Hudson police use website to aid in prostitution busts; 21 states want to shut it down

Monday, September 27, 2010
By MARK MAURER
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

After dozens of busts this year based on tips that prostitutes were advertising on http://newyork.backpage.com , Hudson County law enforcement officials are cheering on colleagues around the nation who are calling for the website to shut down its "adult services" ad section.

Attorney generals in 21 states recently demanded that the site, owned by the Village Voice Media, shut down its adult classified section. The site declined to do so, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

In Hudson County, the North Jersey section has aided West New York, Union City and Hoboken police in making dozens of prostitution and prostitution-related busts.

West New York Police Director Al Bringa estimated that 20 to 25 of his department's 63 prostitution-related arrests this year started with a tip about an ad on backpage.com.

Two weeks ago, Hoboken detectives arrested two women involved in an apparent prostitution ring and escort service by calling a backpage.com ad.

"If the site deals in any kind of illegal activity, we would obviously be against it," Detective Lt. Mark Competello said.

New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow was not among the prosecutors calling for the website to shut down its adult services section. "While we don't automatically sign onto group initiatives, we are aware of the allegations regarding the Village Voice Media-owned website and are currently reviewing our options," Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General's office, said in a statement.

Backpage.com's owner, Village Voice Media LLC, said in a statement that the site has "stringent safeguards in place to ensure that only adults use the site."

The website has a disclaimer asking the user to acknowledge that he or she is over 18 years old before proceeding to the adult content.

Site administrators could not be reached for comment.

The states calling for the website to stop running adult service ads are Connecticut, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.