The founders of Backpage.com have been charged with facilitating prostitution and money laundering, according to a newly unsealed indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
The 93-count indictment against seven people says Backpage earned $500 million in prostitution-related revenue since 2004, and they used various schemes to hide the sources of the funds.
“For far too long, http://Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike. But this illegality stops right now,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.
The website and all affiliated websites were seized by the federal government Friday afternoon.
Michael Lacey and James Larken founded and launched the website in 2004. Both are named and charged in the federal indictment, which was returned March 28.
“This website will no longer serve as a platform for human traffickers to thrive, and those who were complicit in its use to exploit human beings for monetary gain will be held accountable for their heinous actions,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The website has been under scrutiny in recent years for allegations of facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking. In 2015, all major credit card companies stopped processing payments with the site. It now accepts only bitcoin.
The move comes after Congress last month passed legislation to make it easier for state and local prosecutors to use sex trafficking and prostitution laws to go after websites.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, praised the announcement of the indictment Monday. His legislation, known as SESTA, is part of the legislation passed by Congress in March. President Trump is expected to sign it into law Wednesday.
“The indictment of Backpage is good news for victims and survivors of online sex trafficking. This website is hub for the selling of women and children online, and it’s an important step forward in our efforts to hold online sex traffickers accountable,” Portman said.
The organizers of the Women’s March on Saturday said they were upset over the shuttering of Backpage, calling it a “absolute crisis for sex workers who rely on the site to safely get in touch with clients.”
