CEO of sex ad website Backpage pleads guilty after business shut over allegations it promoted child prostitution and human trafficking
The US Congress passed a bill last month that allows victims of sex trafficking to seek justice against website owners who knowingly promote or facilitate the practice
The recently shuttered classified advertising website Backpage and its CEO have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges, the US Justice Department announced on Thursday.
Backpage – accused of being the biggest website for prostitution in the world, with its classifieds used to promote paid-for sex with minors and victims of human trafficking – was abruptly shut down by US authorities on April 6.
The 93-count indictment by a federal grand jury in the southwestern state of Arizona, where the company was launched in 2004, was unsealed on Monday.
According to the plea agreement terms, the company’s CEO Carl Ferrer, 57, agrees to cooperate in the prosecution of alleged co-conspirators Michael Lacey, 69, and James Larkin, 68.
Although the pair sold their interests in Backpage in 2015, the indictment said they had since “retained significant control over the website,” receiving tens of millions of dollars.
“For far too long, Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “But this illegality stops right now.”
Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike