SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The operators of an international website that advertises escort services said Wednesday that they will challenge charges of trafficking prostitutes and pimping on First Amendment grounds.
Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer, 55, and two others will contest the charges at a hearing next month, defense attorney Cristina Claypoole Arguedas told Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman as the three men made their first brief court appearances.
“The complaint and the theory of prosecution is flatly barred by the First Amendment and federal law,” Arguedas said outside the courtroom, referring to a federal law that blocks state actions against websites that distribute content created by others.
Ferrer is charged with pimping a minor, pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping.
The former owners of the Village Voice in New York City, Michael Lacey, 68, and James Larkin, 67, are charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. The Arizona men, who also once owned the Phoenix New Times alternative weekly, are Backpage.com’s controlling shareholders, said California Attorney General Kamala Harris, whose office filed the charges.