Backpage’s “Free Speech” Comes At Devastating Cost To Victims

Tony Ortega

In our last post we were looking at a number of victims of the Backpage human sex trafficking scheme which hypocritical blowhards like Tony Ortega long championed as defenders of free speech.

And yet, as we have seen, the sort of ‘free speech’ Tony Ortega’s Backpage cronies trafficked in came at a devastating cost for its victims

Sometime in or around the summer of 2012, a young girl referred to in the indictment of the Backpage crime family as “Victim 6” was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Arizona. Her traffickers utilized Backpage ads that did not offer a specific person but instead generally offered a woman with a particular type of hair color and build. On June 22, 2012, “Victim 6” was dispatched to a customer who had responded to a Backpage ad featuring “Nadia,” who was described as a slender brunette woman. Upon her arrival at the location, Victim 6 was stabbed to death.

Maybe this what Tony Ortega had in mind when he wrote of himself and his Backpage co-conspirators on July 6th, 2011 in an editorial since scrubbed from the Village Voice website, “We’re First Amendment extremists that way. Always have been.”

Or was Tony Ortega thinking about a young girl referenced in the charging documents as Victim 7? Between 2012 and 2015, Victim 7 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Washington and Oregon. Victim 7’s pimp drafted the ads that were placed on Backpage. The wording of these ads was deceitfully edited by Backpage before publication in an attempt to disguise the criminality. Nonetheless, these ads contained provocative and explicit nude pictures of the young sex trafficking victim.

Or maybe Tony Ortega was thinking about Victim 8, who was sold for sex through the use of Backpage ads, in Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. During her time on Backpage Victim 8 was a juvenile (15 years old). Victim 8’s uncle, as well as his friends, placed the ads on Backpage, which included words and phrases that were indicative of prostitution, such as “roses” (money), “fetish friendly,” and 150 for 1/2 hour, 200 for full hour. Through these ads, Victim 8 was forced to do “in-calls” (where she was raped in hotels) as well as “out-calls” (where she was raped at other locations chosen by the men paying for her).

The list goes on — in or around 2013, “Victim 9” was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in Florida. Victim 9’s pimp taught her how to use code words in her Backpage ads to indicate how much she was charging for certain sex acts. Victim 9 was brutally attacked by her trafficker, causing bruises and a fractured cheek bone.

Victim 10 was sold for sex, through the use of Backpage ads, in California and Arizona. During some of this period, Victim 10 was a juvenile (17 years old). An associate of Victim 10’s pimp took pictures of her and drafted the ads that were placed on Backpage. The Backpage ads contained words and phrases such as “ NEW IN TOWN,” “ sexy sweet,” and “ sweet like honey but super hot like fire” and included pictures of Victim 10 in provocative positions showing her legs, stomach, shoulder, and buttocks.

All of this has us here at the blog asking one question: Does Tony Ortega consider any of these victims worth the cost of Backpage’s right to ‘free speech’ or did being on the Backpage payroll make it convenient for opportunists like him and his pals to simply look the other way and pretend they were freedom fighting First Amendment extremists?