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Backpage founder convicted of 1 count of money laundering, jury deadlocks on 84 other counts
Michael Lacey, a founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com, was convicted Thursday on a single count of money laundering and acquitted on another. But an Arizona jury deadlocked on 84 other counts against him in a case that alleged he participated in a scheme to sell sex ads, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
Lawyers argue indicted Backpage employees sought to keep prostitution ads off site
A former executive and two operations managers for classified site Backpage.com worked vigorously to keep the platform free of ads for prostitution even as strategies on how to do so constantly shifted, their attorneys said Tuesday at a federal trial in Phoenix.
Judge in Backpage case refuses to disqualify herself over marriage to AG
The federal judge hearing criminal charges against former executives of Backpage.com is refusing to step aside from the case, saying her marriage to state Attorney General Mark Brnovich is irrelevant to the matter.
Prostitution camp provided women for Petersen adoptions
A prostitution camp in the Marshall Islands provided many of the birth mothers caught up in former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen’s allegedly illegal adoption business, according to statements attributed to his co-defendant in a warrant to seize his assets.
Industry expert: deregulation fuels human trafficking, prostitution in Arizona massage industry
A 2019 bill allowed Arizona to “unwittingly” inherit a human trafficking and prostitution epidemic within the massage therapy industry, the leader of a national massage therapy organization said Friday.
Sexual harassment not the problem, cultural shift from patriarchy needed
As allegations of sexual harassment continue to flood into society, let’s be clear that sexual harassment is not the problem but the symptom. The problem is patriarchy in which women are defined as less than men; in which the disease – power imbalance – is what causes the symptoms i.e. domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, infanticide, femicide, prostitution, etc.
Amnesty International’s draft policy on ‘sex work’ violates human rights
The International Secretariat of Amnesty International passed a draft policy at their meeting on August 7 on “sex work” that would decriminalize all aspects of prostitution including buying, pimping, and brothel keeping while still allowing a state the power to regulate selling. The policy now goes to the board. That policy is a direct attack on women and would make a mockery of human rights.[...]
House approves anti-‘revenge porn’ law, plus several others
Today’s legislative session included the House moving measures forward outlawing "revenge porn"; allowing those convicted of prostitution to have their records cleaned and allowing Arizona high school students to gain admission into an in-state school without taking fine arts.
Little-known visa intended for trafficking victims is chronically underused
WASHINGTON – Visas to enter the U.S. are typically a hot commodity: The government stopped taking applications for its 2014 allotment of 65,000 H-1B work visas after just four days, for example.
But not the T-visa.
Group gives Arizona a grade of C for efforts to curb child sex trafficking
Arizona should have a zero tolerance policy for men who engage in sexual intercourse with underage prostitutes, a former congresswoman said Tuesday. Linda Smith, founder of the advocacy group Shared Hope International, presented the state with a grade of C for its efforts to protect children from sex trafficking.
Tucson’s nymphs de pave
Maiden Lane bordered Congress Street, and between the two was a stretch of “unholy” land shaped like a thin slice of pie and called the wedge — pictured here in the accompanying turn-of-the-century photo. The red light district was anything but invisible.
Mesa mayor vows crackdown on massage parlors
Mesa's mayor is vowing a vigorous crackdown on massage parlors that serve as fronts for prostitution. The number of licensed massage parlors in the city has soared from 73 to about 120 since April 2006.
