Backpage.com CEO Arrested On Pimping Charges

Backpage.com, an online classifieds site that allows users to post escort ads, was raided by dozens of law enforcement officers this week, and its CEO was arrested. Carl Ferrer faces charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping. The two controlling shareholders of Backpage – former owners of the Village Voice, Michael Lacey and James Larkin – were also charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. The arrests came after a three-year investigation by the California Department of Justice, with undercover agents posting ads to confirm that the escort ads were soliciting sex. Backpage, which was started by Village Voice Media but is now owned by a Dutch company, did not shut down the “adult entertainment” side of its classifieds, unlike competitors such as Craigslist. Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general, said Backpage was “purposefully and unlawfully designed” as an online brothel.