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On Thursday (Oct. 6), the CEO of Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, was arrested on “pimping conspiracy.” The classified ads services is accused of posting online escort ads that featured minors.

Reports Courthouse News Service:

Carl Ferrer, 55, was arrested at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport after arriving on a flight from Amsterdam, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

Paxton said a “lengthy joint investigation” with California Attorney General Kamala Harris “uncovered evidence that adult and child sex trafficking victims were forced into prostitution” through ads that repeatedly appeared on the website.

Sheriffs, police departments and prosecutors across the country have been tracking Backpage.com for years, sometimes saying publicly that they suspect the web page’s “escort” ads are a cover for sex trafficking of children.

Ferrer faces one count of pimping conspiracy, three counts of pimping a minor (under 16), one count of attempted pimping of a minor under 16, one count of pimping a minor and four counts of pimping.

You may have become aware of Backpage’s salacious use by escorts and Johns during the infamous Zola story that set Twitter on fire last year.

Photo: Houston PD