Rob Portman

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a website operator will have to comply with a subpoena issued by a U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's subcommittee that's investigating child sex trafficking.

(Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com)

WASHINGTON D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Backpage.com, a website involved in a U.S. Senate child sex trafficking investigation, will have to comply with a subpoena issued by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's subcommittee.

Operators of the Backpage.com website had argued on First Amendment grounds that they shouldn't have to comply with the subpoena issued by Portman's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

A U.S. district court judge ruled last month that the company, which operates city-by-city classified ad websites, should comply with the subpoena. Backpage.com appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Portman called the decision "a major victory in our efforts to protect women and children from the evils of online sex trafficking."

"Instead of working with us to help protect the innocent victims of sex trafficking all across the United States, Backpage has instead fought our efforts at every step of the way while the problem of online sex trafficking gets worse, not better," said a statement from Portman, an Ohio Republican. "We look forward to reviewing the subpoenaed documents that Backpage has unlawfully tried to withhold from Congress. We will continue our bipartisan investigation and our work to ensure that our laws effectively protect the most vulnerable from those who commit and facilitate this reprehensible crimes."

Although the company says it screens its ads, it has bee been accused of enabling child sex trafficking by running sex ads that suggest prostitutes are minors. Many the ads are placed by pimps using young women who have run away from home or are on their own.

Portman says he wants to learn more about how the company screens ads, how it blocks or stops ads and, in particular, whether it plays hide-and-seek with ad wording or other things that might allow it to keep running the ads while asserting it, too, cares about children.

The Supreme Court voted 7-0 against overturning the lower court decision. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from considering the case because his son works as a staff counsel for Portman.