TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsa police and community leaders say advertisements posted on a website for people to act as someone's date for an event are often a front for prostitution and human trafficking.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Todd Evans estimates the escort ads, hosted on Backpage.com, have led to between 300 and 400 prostitution arrests in the city since 2012.
He adds that Tulsa police have made more than 20 human trafficking arrests since Oklahoma passed anti-human trafficking legislation in 2012.
Executive director Wilma Lively of the DaySpring Villa Women and Children's Shelter says it has housed 100 trafficking victims since it opened three years ago in Tulsa. Lively says a lot of the trafficking victims who have stayed at the shelter were listed on the website.