Carl Ferrer, chief executive officerof Backpage, a classified advertising website that accepts bitcoin and has been linked to facilitating sex trafficking, has been arrested on pimping charges, according to Reuters . Texas and California attorneys general said Ferrer was taken into custody in Houston, Texas on a California warrant. Carl Ferrer Backpage is the second largest classified advertising site in the U.S. after Craigslist. U.S. senators have questioned the site over sex trafficking allegations. Civil lawsuits have also charged the site with sex trafficking, including involving children. Ferrer will appear in a Texas court for an extradition hearing provided he chooses not to waive it, according to Kristin Ford, a spokeswoman for California Attorney General Kamala Harris. Two Shareholders Charged Harris also announced criminal charges against James Larkin and Michael Lacey, Backpage’s controlling shareholders. Warrants have been issued for the two men, who were not in custody. Ferrer’s lawyers could not be reached for comment. The Senate voted 96 to 0 to hold the website in civil contempt for not complying with a subpoena to provide information about how it combats sex trafficking in ads on the website’s adult section. Teens Claim Exploitation Three teenage girls filed a civil suit against Backpage in 2012 in Washington State, claiming they were raped numerous times after the site ran ads about them. The three sued Backpage for sexual exploitation of children and claimed it posted rules to advise pimps how to run trafficking ads that evade law enforcement. Backpage responded that its ads are intended to prevent illegal posts. It invoked the Communications Decency Act, claiming it was not responsible for the ads since the ads were from third parties. Free speech advocates filed briefs in support of Backpage’s position. The Washington State Supreme Court ruled last year that the teens’ […]
