Jurors in the criminal trial of a founder of classified website Backpage.com heard competing arguments during closing arguments about whether the founder knew there were prostitution ads on the site.
Prosecutor Kevin Rapp told jurors Thursday and Friday that Michael Lacey, who is accused along with four former Backpage employees, participated in a scheme to knowingly sell sex ads that he knew contained Words and images indicating prostitution. The site makes most of its revenue from adult advertising, Rapp said.
“It’s not (advertising) from an apartment or a car or a job,” Rapp said.
Lacey’s attorney, Paul Cambria, said his client was focused on running an alternative newspaper chain and was not involved in Backpage’s day-to-day operations, and there was no evidence Lacey saw the 50 items before trial. Controversial advertising. Cambria said Lacey was confident Backpage was operating legally based on the site’s cooperation with law enforcement.
“If the police asked you to cooperate with them, why would you think you were breaking the law?” Cambria asked jurors Friday.
This is the second trial for Lacey and four former Backpage employees, whose first trial ended with Mistrial in September 2021 Prosecutors made excessive references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such charges, the judge concluded.
In summary, Lacey and the group of former employees pleaded not guilty to charges of facilitating prostitution. Of the five, Lacey and two others pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges.
Lacey co-founded the Phoenix New Times weekly newspaper with James Larkin, who was charged in the case and committed suicide in July. Lacey and Larkin held ownership interests in other weeklies, including The Village Voice, and eventually sold their newspapers in 2013.But they kept Backpage, which authorities say generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its founding in 2004 to 2018, when it was shut down by the government.
of the website Marketing director pleads guilty Conspiracy to facilitate prostitution and admitted that he participated in a scheme to provide free advertising to prostitutes to gain business.Additionally, when the government shut down the site, the company’s CEO Carl Ferrer pleads guilty A separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and money laundering charges in California.
Prosecutors say Backpage’s owners ignored warnings to stop running prostitution ads, some of which involved children. They are accused of providing free advertising to sex workers and making arrangements with others in the sex trade to have them advertise in the business.
Authorities said Backpage employees would identify prostitutes through Google searches and then call them to offer free advertising. The website was also accused of having a business arrangement to place ads on another website for customers to post reviews about the experiences of sex workers.
Backpage’s operators say they never allow pornographic ads and assign staff and automated tools to try to remove them. Their legal team maintains that the content on the site is protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors said the site’s moderation efforts were designed to conceal the true nature of the ads.
Rapp told jurors that Backpage was apparently aware of problems with its advertising, and said that news organizations and groups advocating against sex trafficking had denounced Backpage.
Rapp cited Ferrell’s testimony that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told Backpage that there were sex ads on its website. Rapp told jurors that Lacey was frustrated and said the organization’s mission was focused on exploited children, not adult prostitution.
Cambria questioned the credibility of the testimony of Ferrell and another Backpage employee who pleaded guilty, saying they wanted the government to recommend more lenient sentences for their cooperation.
Lacey’s attorneys also said Backpage cooperated with authorities in responding to records subpoenas and that the site provided assistance that led to charges against pimps and prostitutes.
Cambria showed jurors a certificate of appreciation issued to Ferrell in May 2011 and signed by then-FBI Director Robert Mueller to thank Backpage for its assistance in the investigation.
A report released by the Government Accountability Office in June 2021 said the FBI’s ability to identify victims and sex traffickers decreased significantly after Backpage was seized by the government because law enforcement was familiar with the website and Backpage routinely responded to requests for information.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, when lawyers for the other defendants will make closing arguments.
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