AUSTIN, Texas — Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that the prosecution of Backpage.com has resulted in the company pleading guilty to human trafficking in Texas.

  • Headquartered in Dallas
  • Ken Paxton's office executed search warranty that yielded evidence 
  • Could lead to other criminal charges against individuals associated with company

CEO Carl Ferrer plead guilty to money laundering.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office assisted the Department of Justice with permanently shutting down the website a little under a week ago.

Ferrer will be sentenced to up to five years in prison once he’s fulfilled the terms of his plea agreement with Paxton’s office.

His cooperation in the ongoing investigation into Backpage could lead to other criminal charges against individuals associated with the company, according to the attorney general.

Backpage pleaded guilty to facilitating the sex trafficking of women and children through sites it ran for 943 locations in 97 countries and 17 languages. According to Paxton's office, it was involved in 73 percent of all child trafficking cases reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“Taking down Backpage and obtaining a criminal conviction for the company and its CEO represents a significant victory in the fight against human trafficking in Texas and around the world,” Attorney General Paxton said. “I want to thank the Attorney General of California, the U.S. Department of Justice, federal law enforcement officials, Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez, and the prosecutors and law enforcement in my office for their outstanding collaborative work on this investigation and prosecution.”

In October 2016, Attorney General Paxton’s Law Enforcement Division arrested Ferrer in Houston. It also executed a search warrant on the Dallas headquarters of Backpage.

On Wednesday, President Trump signed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 into law, making it easier for law enforcement to take legal action against any websites that enable human trafficking.