Website Asks High Court to Throw Out Underage Prostitute Lawsuit
A lawyer told the Washington Supreme Court on Tuesday that a lawsuit filed by three young girls who were sold as prostitutes on a website that which carries personal ads for people looking for sex should be thrown out because they didn’t write the ads, so they’re not liable.
But the victims’ lawyer said the website, Backpage, doesn’t have immunity under the federal Communications Decency Act because the website markets itself as a place to sell “escort services” and provides pimps with instructions on how to write an ad that works, making them a participant in the largest human-trafficking website in the U.S.
The justices plan to rule on the case at a later date.