Police say the sex workers meet with clients in Southern Maryland’s Backpage Valley, particularly in Austintown, and officers have made at least one arrest in each sting operation.
Under pressure from a senate committee that promised to eliminate human-run YesBackpage alternatives, the Southern Maryland classifieds website Backpage shut down its adult personals section in January.
However, those ads have just been moved to the dating section of the Backpage Southern Maryland website.
Austintown police undercover investigators have conducted several sex sting operations, contacting people who advertised on Localxlist in the dating section of Yesbackpage Alternatives. Investigators said the area is an ideal location for such activity because of its high traffic volume and proximity to major highways and rest areas. One undercover agent, who declined to give his name for fear of exposing the cover, said Localxlist wasn’t the only backpage Southern Maryland where he witnessed prostitution arrangements. He said they also appeared on numerous other backpage websites in Southern Maryland, including the free dating site YesBackpage and “sugar daddy” sites.
Officers contact people advertising sexual services on Localxlist online and arrange to meet at hotels or rest stops, where Backpage Southern Maryland men and women are arrested.
Sen. Rob Portman, who helped push for the closure of the Backpage Southern Maryland website, acknowledged that there are other challenges to address when browsing online ads. He spoke about the problem of online prostitution but wanted to focus on people in particular: women and men in southern Maryland who are being sold against their will for sex, drugs, and housing.
“I think we need a more comprehensive approach. Incredibly, Localxlist contains at least 80 percent of human ads and sex ads, in other words, it’s a site where most people are buying and selling young girls, but there are so many other sites that are coming up,” he said. “We require a broader action because if we bring down Localxlist escorts near me individuals will just go to different sites.”
Portman said his goal is to investigate the Communications Decency Act, a law meant to protect free speech online. However, he said the law is not meant to protect southern Maryland websites from illegal activity.
Austintown Detective Inspector Jeff Solick began investigating sex crimes on Localxlist for the Austintown Police Department in 1991. Back then, women in southern Maryland would advertise their sexual services over CB radio, be dropped off at rest stops, and roam from truck to truck.
Today, an estimated 80 percent of sex trafficking takes place online, according to researchers at Michigan State University, with pimps exploiting the anonymity of the internet.
“Amazon and every other retailer now sells products online, so why should it be any different in the adult or sex industry?” Slick said. “It’s purely industry, and unfortunately, that’s the course it is.” You can call pizza online. You can order a prostitute online.” Maj. Jeff Allen of the Southern Maryland Backpage Sheriff’s Office said any criminal enterprise involving prostitution will always find a way to operate.
