this is a special edition of "nightline." "daughters for sale." >> tonight -- >> i'd like to be a doctor. >> from a picture-perfect childhood to being sold for sex online. >> i was in shock. >> a family's nightmare. >> they took everything from my little girl. >> backpage.com. at the center under investigation for possible links to underage sex trafficking. we're with vice cops on dramatic stings. >> what's your name? please, you're under arrest. >> we track down the man behind backpage. >> you're a father what do you want to say to him? >> this special edition of "nightline" "daughters for sale"

this is a special "nightline." "daughters for sale." >> good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight we revisit a harrowing tale. one teenage daughter on the darkest of journeys disappearing into the internet sex trade. our "nightline" investigation into the controversial classified site backpage.com. accused of making sex trafficking possible. one family's fight for justice. here again is our special edition "daughters for sale."

>> when i grow up i'd like to be a doctor. >> reporter: they are the sweet dreams of the seventh grade girl. >> something i would like to do in my life is go to africa. >> reporter: but what lay ahead was a nightmare her parents never saw coming. >> they took everything from my little girl. >> i live in an american town. how can my kid be sold on the internet? >> reporter: a few short years after this video was taken, the 15-year-old, who we'll call natalie, would b through the website backpage.com. >> how many encounters do you think you had during that time? >> over 150. >> over 150? >> yeah. >> would that have been possible without backpage? >> no way. >> reporter: this saga led natalie to join a major lawsuit against backpage with other girls like her. today, natalie is 21 years old and a mother herself. >> why your decision to speak

i do it for other families. >> reporter: similar to craigslist, backpage is a basic classified ad site. but with a racy adult section like escorts and body rubs. technically legal services that law enforcement has called vinly veiled code for prostitution. >> the majority of children sold for sex in the united states today was trafficked using backpage. >> reporter: now backpage is also under investigation by the u.s. senate. this is one of th taken of natalie before she made the choice that would change her life forever. she ran away from home. >> i just wanted to get my parents' attention. i was really scatterbrained at 15. >> reporter: when her parents found the farewell letter she left, they called the police. >> i was in shock. gone? why, where? how? >> reporter: natalie took a bus 30 miles to downtown seattle where she says she met an older

streets. >> a pimp picked us up and then took us to his house. and then that's when i got raped. for the first time. after it happened, he threw a towel at me and some carpet cleaner and told me to clean up the carpet. because there was blood. >> you were a virgin? >> yeah. >> reporter: this first traumatic encounter sent natalie down a dark path. a path that eventually led to this man, 32-year-old verudy hobson. he said he was kind, offered a place to stay. >> i talked to him, confided in him about how stressed out i was. >> reporter: soon the dynamic dangerously changed. >> he'd asked me if i had ever worked before. then he told me that i wouldn't be on the streets. then that's when backpage came into play. >> what did he say about backpage? >> he said it's safer.

"well worth it, $150 an hour, it won't take long at all," natalie says she started earning $4,000 a weekend for sex, handing over all the cash to hobson. >> he started getting physically abusive. he would sleep in the living room next to the front door so i couldn't leave. >> how often did you work? >> every day. it's too simple. ask if you're 18 or older, a went. >> it tore our family apart. >> reporter: natalie's father tom would spend his days driving around seattle. >> the dreams of her going to college -- >> reporter: searching desperately for his missing girl. >> day after day, yeah. >> reporter: he learned she might be working the streets. the idea alone pushed him to a breaking point. >> what ran through my mind is what i was going to do, how i was going to handle it, when i found her.

parents found out she wasn't even on the streets but being sold online. what was it like for you to realize that was going on with backpage? >> when you hear that your 15-year-old child is posting an ad for sex or for rape, in her case, and that she's getting 25 to 30 calls an hour, and you're thinking, okay, how many of these is she having to answer? how many times a day is my child being raped? >> reporter: right no protects backpage from being held legally responsible for what users post on its site. >> if someone advertises a faulty motorcycle, the buyer of that motorcycle shouldn't be able to sue backpage merely for posting the ad. under the law, there is no difference between backpage posting the advertisement for the faulty motorcycle and posting the advertisement for the underaged girl. >> reporter: backpage, based in dallas, says they voluntarily

system for screening ads which includes employing moderatmodera filter for key words, and a user-reported flagging system. 2012 their attorney told "nightline" -- >> online child exploitation exists and the best tools to fight it are also online. backpage.com is currently one of the very best tools to fight it. >> age 18 -- >> reporter: seattle's police department vice squad tells us they find underage girls listed on backpage all the time, including natali rescued in a hotel sting set up through her backpage ad 108 days after she went missing. >> you're in his hotel room. >> he says, i know who you are, natalie. instantly i saw storms of cops outside. >> reporter: one of those cops, this man, detective bill buyer. >> yeah, seeing if you're available? >> i remember being guyer.

bond, helped her through the trial, he was sentenced to 26 years for commercial abuse of a minor. >> tell her and every other girl, even though they don't want to go to court, i want to get them to the point they can't wait to get on the stand and point him out, say that's the piece of crap that did this to me. >> reporter: he's on a mission with the seattle vice squad. they agreed to take us inside a backpage sting. >> we want to post an ad and do it under >> reporter: this detective frequently goes undercover so has asked we not show his full face. >> i am at least 18 years of age or older, all you have to do is say "i agree" and one click and you're through that? >> correct. >> reporter: we're here to see what happens when you post a backage ad that suggests an underage girl is involved. the detective creates an ad for an 18-year-old girl named angel, adding a critical detail, the mention of a younger friend. >> here's the kicker, right? younger friend.

pressing "post" the ad is up and running. the ad is essentially advertising an underage girl. >> that's the way you figure out -- [ phone ringing ] >> we've gotten several phone calls, several texts, they're really coming in. hey, beautiful, are you angel? oh, there's another one. it hasn't even been up half an hour. this is crazy. >> reporter: a full 24 hours later, we're in a seattle hotel with the vice squad. angel's ad is still up and down by backpage. >> we are using the fruits from what we planted yesterday. >> reporter: they brought in katie, an undercover cop who will pretend to be angel. >> so this is our ad that we posted 24 hours ago. but it's still getting responses. and date te katie is writing bae if these guys will come meet an underaged girl for sex. >> reporter: she calls back a man who left a voice mail about

friend who will be joining them, 15. >> okay, look forward to it. i'm going to come to the window. okay, i'm in the window, on the very far end, kind of near the flagpole. me and my friend are standing in the window. we're going to wave to you. >> the scenario has been set up, this guy's walking up right now. he thinks he's coming up to meet a 15 and 16-year-old girl for sex. >> he's in a royal blue shirt and has a fedora on. >> he tried to bolt. >> just relax, relax. relax, relax. hands behind your back, police, you're under arrest. these girls that you were coming here to see today, how old were they? >> they said something -- >> what did they say? >> they said they're 16.

>> doesn't bother you at all? >> sir, i didn't -- i just -- just meeting and wanted to -- >> meeting and what? play scrabble? >> no, i just wanted to make more friends out here. >> reporter: the man pled not guilty to attempted commercial sex abuse of a minor. backpage stings like this are becoming commonplace across the country. backpage tells us they make sure to always cooperate with law enforcement investigations. but for natalie and other girls suing the site, it's not a but holding the man behind it accountable. >> he's just as accountable as the pimp that sold her in my mind. >> karl ferrara? >> when we come back, see what he does when he track him down overseas. >> she was trafficked on backpage. i'm billy, and i quit smoking wh chantix. i decided to take chantix to shut everybody else up about me quitting smoking. i was going to give it a try, but i didn't really think it was going to really happen. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit.

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amsterdam. the land of red light districts and legalized prostitution. possibly a good place to find the man behind ck karl ferrara. here we are in amsterdam. we realized backpage.com was sold to an unnamed dutch company. we started looking. did karl ferrara own companies in amsterdam? ferrara seems to be running other escort services, including a site similar to backpage called cracker, available nearly everywhere except the united states. turns out a lot of people are looking for this guy, including the u.s. senate. >> i'd like to call the ceo of

>> reporter: in march after he failed to show up to testify in a hearing about online sex trafficking the senate voted to charge karl ferrara with contempt of congress. >> we had hope mrd ferrara would be here. it was a unanimous vote, first time in 21 years the united states senate has done this, it's a big deal. >> we want to know how much money they're making. we want to know what their policies and procedures are for screening ads. >> reporter: backpage has refused to disclose this information but the senate's investigators say they obtained company e-mails where moderators are told not to unless they are "really very sure" the girl is underage. d on discovery, e-mails that suggest backpage was telling moderators to actually edit ads. >> things that have been edited out include the fact that a girl is underage. >> i'm betting that when we get all the financials, they're not making much money selling motorcycles, but they're making a whole lot of money selling children. >> reporter: backpage's corporate group is projected to have a revenue of $173 million

although they will not say what percentage of this comes from the adult ads. backpage declined to comment on the senate's findings. they were fighting the contempt charge in a d.c. court. claiming the senate's request is a violation of the first amendment, because it seeks every bit of information relating to every editorial decision made during the past six years. as we've been trying to find backpage ceo karl ferrara, we've tested out what happens when you post an ad using language that suggests an underage girl is >> you're under arrest. >> what we're going to do now is e-mail backpage to report the ad to see if they take it down. hit "report ad." >> reporter: we wanted to find out what would happen if we e-mail backpage directly, flagging the ad as underage? >> i'm sending their e-mail, abuse at backpage.com a note, saying i went on a date with the girl in this ad, i'm linking to the ad, she told me she's 15, we're going to see whether or not backpage takes down the ad.

inbox. if you have information regarding the exploitation of a minor, please contact the national center for missing and exploited children. backpage told us later even though they think the ad does not clearly advertise that a girl under 18 is involved, their moderators did take it down. the company says they banned the account. they did report the ad to the national center. >> would you be surprised to know it stayed up 24 hours? >> reporter: she's general counsel and says 73% of the reports they receive from the public about suspected underage trafficking involve a backpage post. >> backpage maintains it has monitoring programs, that it's consistently policing its own site. it also told "nightline" that backpage is online to fight human trafficking. >> i think that's a false statement. the i don't think you can be in the business of providing basically an online bazaar for

for sex, and say that you are online to help fight the problem. >> reporter: with a long list of questions, our search for backpage ceo karl ferrara brings us here. karl ferrara has turned out several interview requests. we've come to this hotel in amsterdam because we found out there is a conference that karl is scheduled to attend. turns out karl ferrara is an active member of the classified ad industry. >> it's a chance for me to talk to other ceos in the industry and share ideas. networking conference every year. it doesn't take long before we spot him. >> karl! karl ferrara? >> yes. >> hi, we've been looking for you. do you have a second? i'm gloria riviera with abc news. we want to ask you a few questions. >> oh, i'm -- >> you know, law enforcement tells us that underage girls are trafficked on backpage.com. your company. >> no comment. >> we saw a real-life example of this last week. mr. ferrara, just a moment. we've come a long way. five minutes?

>> we spoke to a father who has a 15-year-old girl. she was trafficked on backpage. >> i am sorry. >> you're a father, what would you want to say to him? he wants to know why this is going on. >> please -- >> we just need a few minutes of your time. initially when he saw us he said hello, how are you? as soon as we brought up law enforcement and the underage trafficking of young girls, he said he didn't want to talk to us -- >> excuse me, please -- >> reporter: not have wanted to answer our questions but he may not have that luxury when it comes to the senate. >> he's in amsterdam because he wants to avoid the bright light of attention we are placing on his company. i don't think amsterdam is far enough for him to go. >> reporter: others like natalie and her family are waiting for their own day in court, hoping her lawsuit which claims backpage knowingly edited content which enabled prostitution succeeds. backpage denies these allegations and is fighting them

he's got to go home at night and know he's selling kids today. he's just as accountable as the pimp that sold her in my mind. >> reporter: in a statement to abc news backpage said, while the experiences of children who have been exploited are tragic and heartbreaking, the solution does not lie in making online service providers responsible for millions of posts by third-party users. calling it censorship. little comfort to those whose lives are so deeply affected, like natalie, her family, and >> to this day, jurisdiction years later, he calls me on my birthday. every year. >> every year? >> every year. he's the godfather of my little girl. >> he's my hero. to me -- it saved my little girl. brought her home. >> reporter: today the two men who share a special bond are about to be reunited. it's been three years since they last saw each other. >> how are you doing? >> good to see you. >> yeah, good to see you.

this is great. >> she's going to be all right. >> reporter: this is not a fight tom, nicole, and natalie chose. but it's one they say they are determined to win. for other little girls and their dreams. >> there's nothing i'm not looking forward to. >> we'll be right back. take viagra when they need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra single packs. when you've got... ...nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea! nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!

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y22rfy yy6y and there's an update. today in a major victory for the senate, a d.c. judge ruled that karl ferrere and backpage have to turn over all the requested documents per taping to their escort ads within the next ten days. "nightline" producers jackie jesco and sally hawkins for that report. good n >> today on "fablife"... ? ali landry. you gave donald trump some good advice. >> would you vote for him now? >> i-- i-- i-- i-- >> she's speechless. three ways to rock shorts at any age. minimize, you know, any tummy flaws with a high-waisted short. i love the longer bermuda style. >> plus, how to brighten up your beauty routine. >> keeps your lip neutral, but gives you a little something-something.