Craig Ferrer has been charged and Backpage's offices were raided. The general counsel for Craig Ferrer, chief executive of small ads website Backpage, has said the charges against him made by the California and Texas attorneys general are "illegal". He and two of the site's controlling shareholders are accused of pimping. Allegations that the site has carried adverts aiding forced prostitution have dogged the platform for some years. The BBC has contacted the office of the California attorney general for comment.
Adverts offering prostitution services were against the website's policies and were blocked, and the site removed them when contacted by law enforcement, Ms Mcdougall added. Backpage operates in hundreds cities around the world, including London, Jerusalem, Beijing and Miami. The State of California Department of Justice conducted a three-year investigation and concluded that "many" of the site's adult escort adverts involved prostitutes and victims of sex trafficking, including children.
Backpage website head faces sex charges. More on this story.
