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Backpage says criminal charges by Kamala Harris are 'election year stunt'

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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.

The site has been the focus of a recent Senate committee 
investigation into allegations of online sex trafficking. 
Backpage opposed a Senate subpoena and eventually asked the U.S. 
Supreme Court to toss out a judge’s order to comply. In 
September, the Supreme Court declined to block the subpoena.

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who are 
leading the bipartisan Senate investigation, issued a statement 
after Ferrer was detained and criticized the company for its 
suspected role in the illegal sex trade. Portman and McCaskill 
contended  their investigation was the first to reveal 
Backpage’s practice of editing ads to “conceal evidence of 
criminality.”

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-backpage-ceo-
arrested-charged-20161006-snap-story.html
    

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Backpage says criminal charges by Kamala Harris are 'election year stunt' "Where Is The ACLU?" <aclu.whores@splc.org> - 2017-01-19 22:20 +0100

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