XPost: alt.politics.election, us.politics.elections, alt.politic   
   .socialism.democratic   
   XPost: alt.philosophy.law   
   From: aclu.whores@splc.org   
      
   Backpage.com bills itself as an internet classified advertising   
   giant where you can find apartments, cars, pets and   
   companionship.   
      
   But California prosecutors this week alleged that vast majority   
   of the ads are for “adult services” and that the company is   
   profiting from the sex trafficking of adults and children.   
      
   The chief executive of Backpage.com was arrested this week on   
   pimping charges, part of a broad crackdown led by state Atty.   
   Gen. Kamala Harris.   
      
   Carl Ferrer was taken into custody Thursday in Houston after   
   arriving on a flight from Amsterdam, according to a statement   
   from Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, whose office joined in the   
   criminal inquiry. Investigators also raided the Dallas   
   headquarters of the company in a related probe of suspected   
   money laundering, Paxton said.   
      
   Ferrer and two men who prosecutors described as controlling   
   shareholders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, were each charged   
   with a felony count of conspiracy to commit pimping. The charges   
   were filed Sept. 26 in Sacramento County Superior Court. Ferrer,   
   55, also faces multiple counts of pimping and pimping minors.   
      
   Prosecutors allege Lacey, 68, and Larkin, 67, helped operate   
   Backpage and received earnings from the site, including a $10-   
   million bonus each in 2014. Ferrer is accused of overseeing the   
   company, including the screening of ads, and prosecutors contend   
   he knowingly gained money from the prostitution of women and   
   children, according to court papers.   
      
   “Raking in millions of dollars from the trafficking and   
   exploitation of vulnerable victims is outrageous, despicable and   
   illegal,” Harris said. “Backpage and its executives purposefully   
   and unlawfully designed Backpage to be the world’s top online   
   brothel.”   
      
   Backpage on Friday denied any wrongdoing, accusing Harris’   
   prosecution as being politically motivated as she runs for the   
   U.S. Senate.   
      
   The case is the most vigorous effort yet to blunt Backpage,   
   which was founded in 2004 and is now owned by a Dutch company   
   that lists Ferrer as its sole partner. Such a prosecution gives   
   Harris’ office national attention as she heads into the final   
   month of her race against Rep. Loretta Sanchez, also a Democrat,   
   from Orange County.   
      
   But the charges will likely draw the opposition of First   
   Amendment advocates, who have seen enforcement efforts against   
   Backpage as a quash on free speech. The company has successfully   
   fended off a raft of civil lawsuits and government inquiries,   
   often citing the Communications Decency Act, which frees online   
   publishers from liability over user postings.   
      
   In a statement issued Friday, the company blasted the   
   prosecution and noted that the charges make it clear that   
   Backpage blocked ads that violated a prohibition against   
   prostitution and removed ads at the request of police.   
      
   “The raid of Backpage.com’s Dallas office and the arrest of its   
   CEO is an election year stunt, not a good-faith action by law   
   enforcement,” according to the statement, which was also issued   
   on behalf of Ferrer, Larkin and Lacey. The company accused   
   Harris of an illegal prosecution, calling it a violation of   
   First Amendment precedent as well as the Communications Decency   
   Act.   
      
   “Backpage.com will take all steps necessary to end this   
   frivolous prosecution and will pursue its full remedies under   
   federal law against the state actors who chose to ignore the   
   law, as it has done successfully in other cases.”   
      
   Lacey and Larkin were not in custody as of Thursday, but a   
   warrant had been issued for their arrests. Both men are   
   residents of Arizona and are the former owners of Phoenix New   
   Times and the Village Voice.   
      
   If convicted, Ferrer faces up to about 22 years in prison.   
   Larkin and Lacey each face up to six years.   
      
   The charges followed a three-year-long inquiry in which   
   California authorities claim to have found numerous instances in   
   which the company received fees from ads for escorts younger   
   than 18. The minors lived in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Santa   
   Clara counties, according to the criminal complaint.   
      
   Undercover agents responded to ads, which typically feature   
   nearly nude photos and offer a menu of sex explained in coded   
   language, prosecutors said. The agents met women and girls who   
   described how they used — or were forced to use — the website to   
   sell sexual intercourse.   
      
   A 27-year-old woman said she began using Backpage after   
   Craigslist shuttered its escort section and the prostitution   
   website MyRedbook.com was shut down by federal officials.   
      
   A 15-year-old girl, who said she was forced into prostitution at   
   13 by her pimp, bluntly told authorities that Backpage “profits   
   off of women and men.” The teen, whose name was not disclosed,   
   said the site simplified the online sex marketplace.   
      
   “There is too much access,” she said, “like it’s too easy for   
   people to get on it and post an ad.”   
      
   The site allows classified ads for myriad categories — including   
   jobs, housing, furniture and clothing — but investigators   
   concluded that its “adult” section, which includes escort ads,   
   generated the vast majority of its income, according to internal   
   revenue reports.   
      
   Investigators focused on revenue generated from California,   
   which accounted for about 15% of the company’s global income,   
   according to court papers. During a 29-month period starting in   
   January 2013, Backpage had a gross income of about $51 million   
   in the state.   
      
   The website has long been a target in the crusade against human   
   trafficking. The National Center for Missing and Exploited   
   Children reported about 2,900 cases of suspected child sex   
   trafficking via Backpage to law enforcement agencies in   
   California since 2012, officials said.   
      
   The company has contended that it is a host — not a publisher —   
   of content generated by third parties, namely, consenting adults.   
      
   In a 2011 interview with The Times, Larkin emphasized the need   
   for thorough screening, not elimination of the adult services   
   category on its website.   
      
   "What needs to be done is what we are doing: Hosts need to   
   monitor and remove offending posts on a real-time basis, and   
   cooperate rapidly when illegal posts are brought to their   
   attention,” Larkin said.   
      
   The California case alleges Ferrer and the website were more   
   than hosts of escort ads.   
      
   Prosecutors accuse Ferrer of taking content posted by Backpage   
   customers and cross-publishing it on related websites including   
   BigCity.com and EvilEmpire.com. The affiliated websites had no   
   apparent method to allow users to post, and prosecutors allege   
   this “scheme” allowed Ferrer to widen Backpage’s reach.   
      
   Jason de Bretteville, former federal prosecutor and white collar   
   criminal defense attorney based in Newport Beach, said the   
   allegation could limit Backpage’s claims of neutrality.   
      
   “The government is doing its best to show the company is not a   
   passive posting board, but is actively encouraging illegal   
   transactions,” de Bretteville said.   
      
      
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