Thread by @stephenlemons

On a break at the Lacey Larkin Trial. Attorney for Jim Larkin, Whitney Bernstein, did a very effective cross examination of the woman who said that she was trafficked and that ads of her appeared on #Backpage, posted either by herself or by her trafficker. 1/

This was during a time where she had run away from home during several months in 2010. Bernstein established that the witness, A tall thin woman with long red hair in a black pantsuit, had never met or communicated with any of the defendants. 2/

I am not using her Name here because she was trafficked and the persons who trafficked her are in prison, save for a female trafficker who has never been found. 3/

Under questioning by Bernstein the woman admitted that she lied about her age on Backpage and that she had violated the website’s terms of use. 4/

The woman could not recall how many times she had posted on. She said that some ads may have been re-posted as many as 70 times. 5/

Under questioning she admitted that she had been arrested at least one time for prostitution before the time she was rescued by police. After 1st arrest she was questioned for 6 hours by the police. She gave police a fake name & fake age. Police suspected she was underage…6/

And she was not charged and she was released. Bernstein asked, “so the police were not able to determine your age by looking at you?” The woman admitted that they were not able to prove that she was underage by looking at her in person. 7/

The woman was arrested at the time in question as part of a prostitution sting. The cops had responded to an ad placed by her pimp. This is a significant point. Because the police were not able to determine whether or not the girl in front of them was a minor. 8/

Remember, according to the woman she was 15 at the time of this arrest. The police had seen and responded to the advertisement that was on backpage. So if the police cannot determine if a girl that Young is underage when she is right in front of them…9/

… then how is a moderator sitting in front of a computer looking at a photo that is likely obscured in someway supposed to determine age? Again please remember that the prosecution says these ads were obviously for prostitution. If so why couldn’t the police arrest her? 10/

Our break is almost over. So I will check back in after court is done for the day. 11/11