Child sex trafficking victim sues ‘morally bankrupt’ Facebook for ‘aiding’ her abusers by providing an unrestricted platform to criminals after she was groomed online by a pimp
The woman was just 16 when a ‘friend of a Facebook friend’ contacted her online
She was groomed by the pimp who said he would help with her modeling career
When they met in Texas she was beaten up, raped and sold to strangers for sex
The civil lawsuit seeking $10,000 says Facebook should be held accountable
By MIRANDA ALDERSLEY
DAILYMAIL.COM
3 October 2018
A Texas woman is suing the social media giant Facebook, saying it was complicit in the circumstances that led to her being sex trafficked as a child.
The unidentified woman is seeking monetary damages in excess of $10,000, arguing the company’s ‘morally bankrupt culture’ left her vulnerable to predators and was a factor in her being groomed online by a pimp who drew her into sex trafficking.
The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Harris County court accuses Facebook of providing ‘an unrestricted platform’ that allows criminals to ‘stalk, exploit, recruit, groom and extort children into the sex trade.’
Attorney Annie McAdams said: ‘For over a decade Facebook has been providing predators unrestricted platform to prey on victims.
‘Profiting from connecting people requires you to protect those with whom you connect.’
In 2014 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children attributed the 836% increase in suspected child sex trafficking in the four years since 2010 to ‘increased use of the internet to sell children for sex’.
The lawsuit cites the statistic as evidence that social media platforms need to be held accountable.
The anonymous trafficking victim, who is from Houston, said the nightmare began when a friend of a Facebook friend contacted her on the site in 2012, when she was just 16.
The stranger manipulated the victim, complimenting her looks and offering to launch her modeling career.
He told the victim, who had confided in him about a recent argument with her mother, that she would make enough money to rent her own apartment.
He said he would pick her up and console her, the complaint says, following which the recruiter photographed her and posted the images online.
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