(credit: Steven Depolo)
Last month, a California judge tentatively ruled that he would dismiss charges lodged by California’s attorney general against Backpage.com’s chief executive and two of its former owners. The tables seemed to turn after a November 16 hearing in which Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman decided against following his tentative ruling. But on Friday, the judge issued a final order that virtually mirrored the earlier one: charges dismissed.
Carl Ferrer
The CEO, Carl Ferrer, 55, was charged with pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping in connection to online advertisements posted on the online ads portal.
As we previously reported: California’s attorney general and US Senator-elect 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 in November.
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Source: Ars Technica – Backpage executives beat pimping charges, case dismissed