CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A local sheriff's office has a warning about a website that they say has become a haven for criminals.
Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri sat down with the grandmother of a young Clayton County woman whom she said was lured into prostitution through the site.
"We were devastated. We were absolutely so shocked and so surprised," the grandmother said.
She told Viteri she found photographs of her 19-year-old granddaughter on the website Backpage.com after the teen disappeared in December from her job at a Stockbridge McDonald's.
After days of searching, they got a clue: a phone number. When investigators entered it online, they said they found suggestive pictures of the teen, posing as an escort.
"Of course when we saw the ad, we knew how much trouble she was really in," the grandmother said.
"They have different people that will go out and recruit for them. They promise these girls the world," Sgt. Robert Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock said the teen met a man at the McDonald's who lured her to stay with him and another woman. He said they quickly pushed her to take the pictures and sent her out for prostitution jobs.
"She was beaten with a belt to make her do what he wanted her to do," the grandmother said.
"They use Backpage almost exclusively now to advertise their prostitution escort business," Hitchcock said.
Channel 2 Action News was with investigators in February during a prostitution sting in which they arrested several people who advertised on Backpage.com. They were hoping to find the missing 19-year-old, but she was already out of state.
"These guys move these girls across state boundaries, and if you get too close to them, these girls disappear and you'll never find them," Hitchcock said.
In late March, the grandmother got a call from the 19-year-old, who was in Portland, Ore., and wanted to come home.
"I know a lot of lives are being wrecked, and I'm sure a lot ruined. I think we're one of the lucky ones," the grandmother said.
The teen's grandmother told Viteri the teen had never run off or been in any trouble before. The teen was able to get home and said that usually, someone was guarding her to keep her from running away again.
Investigators said websites like Backpage.com make it hard to find the people behind prostitution. They believe the people who advertised the teen online are still operating in the area.
WSBTV
