A California judge said Wednesday that he is going to dismiss the pimping and other charges that California’s attorney general levied against the Backpage.com CEO and two of its former owners.

Carl Ferrer.

Carl Ferrer, 55, was charged (PDF) with pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping in connection to online advertisements posted on the online ads portal. California’s attorney general, Kamala Harris, alleged that advertisements amounted to solicitation of prostitution. Ferrer and co-defendants were accused of making millions in profits off the backs of women and children forced into sexual servitude. The charges were brought as Harris—who decried the site as “the world’s top online brothel”—was running for a US Senate seat, which she won last week.

In his defense, Ferrer argued that the First Amendment protected him from the charges, that he is not responsible for ads posted by third parties on the website, and that the Communications Decency Act prevents him from being liable for ads posted by third parties. Ferrer, who was the subject of a three-year joint criminal investigation by authorities in Texas and California, also argued that neither he nor two Backpage controlling shareholders facing conspiracy charges had any “knowledge” of illegal ads.