New book details how California prosecutors took down sex trafficking site Backpage

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New book details how California prosecutors² took down sex trafficking site Backpage

Transcript³

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Maggy Krell, an ex-California state prosecutor¹, about her book, Taking Down Backpage: Fighting The World's Largest Sex Trafficker.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Maggy Krell knew it wasn't going to be just another case. The former California state prosecutor was going after one of the largest sex trafficking websites in the world. It was called Backpage, and in large part because of Krell's effort, it's been shut down since 2018. She tells the story of that remarkable⁴ case in a new book called "Taking Down Backpage: Fighting The World's Largest Sex Trafficker." In a plea deal with prosecutors, the CEO admitted to conspiracy⁵ to facilitate prostitution and money laundering⁶. He testified against the two men who founded the site with him. Late last year, a federal judge declared a mistrial in that case. A new trial is expected next month.

A warning - this conversation is not appropriate for all listeners.

Maggy Krell says she didn't go after Backpage because of consensual commercial sex; it was about selling children for sexual activity.

MAGGY KRELL: The youngest victim that was part of our case was 12 years old. We saw the majority of the victims were teenagers, kids that had run away from home, kids that were failed in various ways by the child welfare system. Some of them had already suffered sexual abuse in their own homes before being trafficked on the streets and through Backpage, victims who had been forced and coerced⁷ into being advertised on that site against their will.

MARTIN: So at one point, as you're putting this all together, the attorney general of California at the time, Kamala Harris, now the vice⁸ president, pushed you on why you thought you could bring convictions against these guys, the founders⁹ and owner, when so far they had evaded¹⁰ state or federal charges.

KRELL: Sure. I mean, definitely, you know, a big, high-profile case like that - could we prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt? Did we have a good-faith belief that we could convict these defendants¹¹? And that was something that needed to be explained to the attorney general's executive team and eventually to the attorney general herself. But she was very focused on combating human trafficking. This was a top priority for her. And she was excited about the prospect¹² of being able to arrest the owners of Backpage.

MARTIN: But there were a lot of really big obstacles here, right? Explain what was so hard about this case.

KRELL: Well, it's really - it's the Communications Decency¹³ Act. The Communications Decency Act has been interpreted broadly to protect websites from liability based on content that's been posted by third-party users. This was passed in Congress in 1996, when the internet was really in its infancy¹⁴. And the point was to allow for some moderation but also to protect the free exchange of ideas on the internet.

MARTIN: So how did this apply in your effort to bring sex trafficking charges against Backpage?

KRELL: Backpage had successfully invoked¹⁵ the Communications Decency Act immunity¹⁶ statute¹⁷ multiple times against civil cases. We wanted to make the point that a criminal case was different. Ultimately, we weren't able to attack from that angle. And our successful case was using money laundering charges. That was in 2018. I would say that today we have somewhat of a changing legal landscape. In 2018, the president signed the FOSTA-SESTA, Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act, which provides a specific provision that exempts¹⁸ sex trafficking charges from the Communications Decency Act's otherwise broad immunity.

So as we're seeing this shifting legal landscape and then also, you know, kind of a shift here in our cultural landscape with the #MeToo movement and high-profile and successful sex abuse prosecutions¹⁹ against, you know, Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly and just recently the Nassar case, where decades of sexual abuse that had been swept up under the rug were uncovered - and so that's really helped shed a light, encouraged more people to come forward and, you know, helped us all be less tolerant.

MARTIN: I still don't understand how this site, the owners, how they were allowed to run this with basic - you know, with impunity²⁰. I mean, they sort of even trolled the federal government. When Carl Ferrer was arrested, the chief executive of Backpage, investigators²¹ found a certificate on his wall that said something like, you know, to honor you for all your cooperation and help with federal authorities. What's that about?

KRELL: That's right. You know, I was part of the team that went into his office, and I remember seeing that certificate. Backpage really did the bare minimum to kind of appease²² law enforcement. I mean, we had cases, sex trafficking cases for sure, where we would subpoena²³ the ads from Backpage to get more information about, you know, where the victims were being posted and what the transactions were, and Backpage would cooperate, but they never did anything to prevent sex trafficking, and they did everything they could to continue to expand and benefit from it. And I - you know, I agree with what you're saying, that they certainly got away with this for too long. But, you know, for almost four years now, they have been shut down. And that CEO, Carl Ferrer, that you mentioned, you know, is a convicted felon²⁴ - multiple felonies in multiple states.

MARTIN: You write in the book about the complicated dynamic between you as a state prosecutor and your team and federal authorities, the FBI, that the FBI was perhaps hesitant to go after the owners of Backpage because that site gave them a wide aperture²⁵ into smaller criminal rings, right? And they didn't want that to go away.

KRELL: That's right. I understood that well. We certainly used Backpage as an information source for other sex trafficking cases. But it got to a point where Backpage, almost the - kind of the snitch on all of these other trafficking rings, was, you know, the largest criminal in the ring. Their multimillion-dollar handle was more than any other trafficker that I had prosecuted²⁶ was making, and to me, we couldn't any longer turn a blind eye.

MARTIN: You're no longer in the prosecutor's office, right?

KRELL: Right.

MARTIN: How do you reflect back on that time, on that case, what you and your team were able to pull off against a lot of odds²⁷?

KRELL: This is a case that we are proud of. We know that this was a game-changer. This was a case that shifted the national narrative²⁸ and certainly sent a message to survivors²⁹ that this shouldn't be normalized, that their experiences matter. And that's incredibly significant. Clearly, there's a long road to justice, and there's more work to do. You know, there's other websites, and there's still no shortage of people who are being commercially sexually exploited. But this case was a huge step in the right direction.

MARTIN: Former prosecutor Maggy Krell. She is the author of the new book "Taking Down Backpage." Thanks so much for your time.

KRELL: Thank you, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF FAIT'S "SURRENDER TO")

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

6 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

9 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

10 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

11 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

13 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

14 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

15 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

17 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

18 exempts   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This privilege, however, exempts only predecisional documents. 然而，此特权只免除那些文件在作出决定之前的披露责任。
• Function effectiveness: After then special-purpose, exempts the flushing formula. 功能效用：便后专用，免冲洗配方。

19 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

20 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

21 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

23 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。

24 felon   

n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的

参考例句：

• He's a convicted felon.他是个已定罪的重犯。
• Hitler's early "successes" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon.希特勒的早期“胜利 ”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。

25 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

26 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

27 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

28 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

29 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者