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美国南部得克萨斯州的警方以卖淫和性交易的罪名逮捕了在线广告网站“Backpage.com”的首席执行官卡尔·费勒，并对这家公司进行了突查。费勒从阿姆斯特丹飞抵得克萨斯州的休斯顿市时被捕。加利福尼亚州检察长下达的逮捕令说，费勒和他的合作伙伴建立“全球最顶级的线上妓院”，并协助罪犯利用网站宣传卖淫。 在线广告网站“Backpage.com”首席执行官卡尔·费勒 Backpage.com主要用于为成人陪护做广告，但有产品宣传、服务以及工作广告。 声明谈到，检察长办公室获得的公司内部收入报告显示，Backpage.com在2013年1月至2015年3月间的99%的收入都是来自“成人”广告。在那期间，这家公司仅仅在加州就赚到了约5千1百万美元。 这些指控是基于加州司法部长达三年的调查。他们派卧底探员安排与那些在网站“陪护”区做广告的人们会面，来确定这些会面是为性交易安排的。 费勒与另外两名股东被控涉嫌介绍卖淫的重罪。费勒还被控为未成年人“拉客”，因为一些卖淫广告是针对小于18岁的受害者的。
The chief executive of the classified ad website Backpage.com was arrested Thursday on pimping charges, part of a broad crackdown led by state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who criticized the website for profiting from the sex trafficking of adults and children. Carl Ferrer was taken into custody 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. The two men who founded the Dallas company in 2004 and remain its owners, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, were charged along with Ferrer in a criminal complaint filed Sept. 26 in Sacramento County Superior Court. All three are accused of conspiracy to commit pimping, a felony. Ferrer, 55, is also accused of multiple counts of pimping and pimping minors, according to court papers. A spokeswoman for Harris said late Thursday that Lacey, 68, and Larkin, 67, were not in custody but a warrant had been issued for their arrest. Both men are residents of Arizona and are the former owners of Phoenix New Times and the Village Voice. Liz McDougall, an attorney representing Backpage, said the company did not have any comment. She said she expected the company to issue a statement Friday. Carl Ferrer after his arrest Thursday in Houston. (Texas Office of the Attorney General)
Citing internal reports, prosecutors contend that nearly all of Backpage’s global income derived from its “adult” sections, with ads posted and paid for by users. The ads typically feature nearly nude photos and offer a menu of sex explained in coded language, prosecutors said. Investigators in Harris’ office 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. “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.” During the three-year-long inquiry, authorities in California stated they found numerous instances in which the company received fees from ads for escorts under the age of 18. The minors lived in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Santa Clara counties, according to the criminal complaint. California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Undercover agents responded to ads and 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 age 13 by her pimp, bluntly told authorities that Backpage “profits off of women and men.” The teen, whose name was not disclosed, stated that the site simplified the online sexual marketplace. “There is too much access,” she said, “like it’s too easy for people to get on it and post an ad.” One woman said she made up to $1,000 a day, often buying her ads with Bitcoin purchased with Amazon.com gift cards. Although the site allows classified ads for myriad categories — such as jobs, housing, furniture and clothing — investigators concluded that its “adult” section generated the vast majority of its income, according to internal revenue reports. Prosecutors said Lacey and Larkin helped oversee Backpage’s operations and received bonuses, including $10 million each in 2014. Ferrer oversaw all aspects of the company as chief executive, and prosecutors contend he derived money from the prostitution of women and children. Separately, Ferrer was accused of taking content posted by Backpage customers and cross-publishing it on related websites including BigCity.com and EvilEmpire.com. Such a “scheme” allowed Ferrer to widen Backpage’s reach in the illicit online sex trade, prosecutors said. If convicted, Ferrer faces up to nearly 22 years in prison. Larkin and Lacey face up to six years. Crackdown on pimps fuels a rise in human trafficking charges in L.A. County
Paxton, a Republican and Texas’ top prosecutor, said his office raided Backpage’s Dallas office Thursday as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering. The website has long been a target in the crusade against human trafficking. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has repeatedly faulted the site for encouraging an online environment for child sex trafficking and failing to implement preventative steps to stamp out abuse. The site has been the focus of a recent Senate committee investigation into allegations of online sex trafficking. Backpage fought a Senate subpoena and eventually asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a judge’s order to comply with the subpoena. The Supreme Court declined to block the subpoena. Ferrer has until Monday to produce the documents sought by the inquiry, officials said. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who are leading the bipartisan investigation, issued a statement after Ferrer was detained and criticized the company for its alleged role in the illegal sex trade. Portman and McCaskill noted their investigation was the first to reveal Backpage’s practice of editing ads to “conceal evidence of criminality.” The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has reported about 2,900 cases of suspected child sex trafficking via Backpage to law enforcement agencies in California since 2012, officials said. Larkin defended the company in a 2011 interview with The Times, saying that the solution was not to eliminate the category of adult ads from the 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.
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发表于 2016-10-7 08:51:40
