Enlarge / Backpage.com CEO Carl Ferrer, left, former owner James Larkin, former owner Michael Lacey, and COO Andrew Padilla sit in Sacramento Superior Court on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. (credit: Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/TNS via Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors in Arizona unsealed a 61-page, 93-count criminal indictment of seven men accused of running an online prostitution ring through the website Backpage, which was seized and shuttered last week by authorities.
The seven suspects, who have all been arrested, were charged with conspiracy, facilitating prostitution, and money laundering, among other accusations.
“For far too long, Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex, a place where sex traffickers frequently advertised children and adults alike,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “But this illegality stops right now.”
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