CEO of Backpage.com is charged with pimping
A screen shot of Backpage.com.
An investigation of Backpage.com’s escort ads has led to the arrest of the website’s CEO on pimping charges.
Carl Ferrer was arrested in Houston on Thursday on charges of pimping, pimping a minor and conspiracy to commit pimping, report the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times.
Two controlling shareholders of Backpage.com are also facing charges of conspiracy to commit pimping.
The arrests follow a three-year investigation by California’s Department of Justice, with assistance from other prosecution offices and law enforcement agencies. Undercover investigators arranged meetings with people who had advertised in the escort section to confirm that the real purpose of the ads was commercial sex.
The arrest warrant claims that most of the website’s revenue comes from prostitution-related ads in its “adult services” section, according to a press release by California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Many of the ads involved sex-trafficking victims, including children under 18, according to the press release.
“Backpage and its executives purposefully and unlawfully designed Backpage to be the world’s top online brothel,” Harris said in the press release.
Backpage.com expanded its share of the online sex advertising market through other prostitution-related sites, such as EvilEmpire.com, that essentially served as an escort directory of Backpage users, the arrest warrant alleges.
