Untangling the Willamette Week, Backpage and AG candidate link

PORTLAND, Ore. – Candidate for Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is promising to crack down on teen prostitution, but at the same time she has a link – through family – to a website accused of being a primary conduit for human trafficking.

Rosenblum is married to Richard Meeker, the owner of the newspaper Willamette Week. The newspaper's online classifieds are run by Backpage.com. Willamette Week does not post sex ads, but nationally Backpage is accused of dealing in teen prostitution.

Rosenblum, who was a longtime judge, promised to go after those exploiting children during a campaign speech from March.

"I hope to expand it to child sex trafficking because I believe there is a connection between the Internet and sex trafficking," she said.

Under the "Classifieds" section of Willamette Week's website, there is a list of legitimate ads. Until last week, there was also a section for "massage," which linked to some risqué ads.

The current Oregon and Washington attorneys general are among 44 who signed on to a national letter to Backpage last summer, saying the site is a “hub” for teen prostitution and needs to change.

In a February KATU News interview, Portland police explained their frustrations with Backpage.

"I've seen them as young as 14 years of age, who are posted on Backpage.com, claiming to be 19," said Sgt. Mike Geiger with Portland police's Vice Squad.

In a March 28 speech to the Washington County Democrats, Rosenblum promised to crack down on sex trafficking.

"To my surprise the attorney general's office isn't involved at all right now in sex trafficking. That's going to change under my watch," she said. "I'm going to be working very closely with all of the agencies that are involved to make sure that we eradicate sex trafficking in this state. It's outrageous, and I'm not going to tolerate it."

Through her campaign, Rosenblum declined to be interviewed for this story.

But late in the afternoon she sent KATU a statement:

"I can't comment on the business of the Willamette Week. Richard Meeker and the Willamette Week will have no influence over the office of Attorney General, just as I have no influence over the Willamette Week and its business. I am committed, as always, to following the letter of the law and standing up for and fighting for the people of Oregon."

Her husband also declined an on camera interview. But Meeker said Willamette Week eliminated escort advertising in its paper edition years ago at great loss of revenue. He said that months ago he instructed Backpage to remove any adult ads. But because Backpage hosts the classified section, users can still get to Backpage’s own adult ads through Willamette Week by clicking on links that take them to the Backpage site itself.

"To suggest that Willamette Week is the source of sex trafficking in Portland is just flat wrong, and to try to use it to embarrass my wife is just unfair," Meeker said. "Anyone with any computer sophistication knows there are hundreds of ways to get to adult activity in Portland and none of them involves Willamette Week."

He said his classifieds get less than 100 clicks a month and maybe as low as 10.

Backpage has promised law enforcement it is cracking down on ads for teen prostitution but according to Portland police, they're not seeing it.

Voters will choose Oregon's next attorney general May 15. Both Rosenblum and her opponent, Dwight Holton, are Democrats and no Republicans filed to run for the office this year.