On Monday, St. Louisans seeking local resources to help them finally stop smoking would have found some questionable advice on the website LetsFaceItSTL.org, run by the St. Louis County Health Department.
Right up top was a link stating: "Hot Blonde Milf Does Housework And Fucks Her Broom."
Strangely (or disappointingly, depending on your interest in broom-fucking), the porn-y link itself is non-functional, though the link address includes the URL to the homepage of a Chicago-based manufacturer of restaurant furniture.
The link was discovered by officials Monday afternoon after the office of the county executive contacted the Health Department to report they'd received a complaint.
According to St. Louis County Health Department spokesman Craig LeFebvre, LetsFaceItSTL.org was the victim of hackers, though the anti-smoking site had already been slated for removal before the obscene link appeared below its logo. The hacking is believed to have occurred sometime in the past 24 hours.
The website was taken down around 7:40 p.m. Monday, but not before the link was spotted by St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter Nick Pistor.
#STL County Health Department smoking cessation website appears to be linking to porn. http://t.co/M0p5CanN9Q pic.twitter.com/vJxv8Ui33A
— Nicholas J.C. Pistor (@nickpistor) May 5, 2015"We weren't actually using the site," says LeFebvre, explaining that an IT team was in the process of extracting and transferring LetsFaceItSTL.org's information in the prior weeks. The Health Department plans to launch a re-branded version of the site in several months.
"It was going to be taken down anyway," LeFebvre says.
In the meantime, if you need information and resources about quitting smoking, LeFebvre recommends the websites of the American Lung Association, American Heart Association or the other resources on the St. Louis County Health Department website.
See also: Missouri Smokers Lose $1.7 Million in Health-Care Costs, Lost Wages: Study
Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]
