LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – An anti human-trafficking advocate says that the closure of a popular website where traffickers post ads could be a double-edged sword.
Summer Dickerson of Louisville was a victim of human-trafficking. Now, she runs a foundation to help survivors in the courtroom, the hospital and the police station. With the Kentucky Derby approaching, and along with it lots of criminal activity, Dickerson is worried that the shutting down of Backpage.com could make it harder to trace traffickers.
"When Backpage was up, we could kind of keep an eye on all the different cases…maybe what hotels they are at. Or you’ll notice when an event comes to town, the spikes will go up a lot higher and now that backpage is closed, we don’t really have a forum to be able to look at that and get those statistics and numbers," Dickerson told WAVE 3 News in Louisville.
Officials in Louisville recently arrested Quentin Burris. Burris is accused of trafficking two teenage girls. He was the third arrest in recent months on similar charges.
The attorney general’s office says that Burris used Backpage to run ads for the girls.
To learn more about how to prevent trafficking,click here.
