The chief executive officer of classified advertising website Backpage.com was arrested Thursday, Oct. 6, and charged with pimping a minor because the website hosts “escort” ads that law enforcement officials say are thinly disguised solicitations for prostitution.

Law enforcement officers say the young women, often minors, who are advertised are victims who are abused by their pimps.

“Raking in millions of dollars from the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable victims is outrageous, despicable and illegal,” state Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a news release. “Backpage and its executives purposefully and unlawfully designed Backpage to be the world’s top online brothel.”

CEO Carl Ferrer was charged with felony counts of pimping a minor, pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping. Michael Lacey and James Larkin, controlling shareholders of Backpage, were charged with felony conspiracy to commit pimping, the release said.

Ferrer was arrested and booked in Houston; the case was filed in Superior Court in Sacramento, said Kristin Ford, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.

“I support the attorney general’s strong stand against human trafficking and against the use of technology by those involved in pimping and pandering,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Thursday.

Backpage is not the only website running those advertisements but has been the target of district attorney, state attorneys general and local law enforcement agencies, including those in Southern California.

“They are a tool for human traffickers,” San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos said in a September interview. “We have seen the ongoing victimization of those being trafficked for sex in San Bernardino County and across the country.”

The three-year investigation included undercover operations posting escort ads and arranging meetings with people who had advertised in the escort section, confirming that commercial sex was the only purpose for both buyers and sellers, the release said.

The Long Beach Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security were among the agencies assisting in the investigation.

Backpage does not post the advertisements but allows customers to upload them to the website. The ads dance around the edges of the law by withholding most mentions of price for “candy,” “massages” and “service.”

A U.S Court of Appeals ruling this year upheld the protection provided by the Communications Decency Act. Judges said Backpage cannot be held criminally liable because it is the host, not the publisher, of the ads.

A key to the state’s case against Ferrer could be its assertion that he took data from Backpage users and created content on separate websites. The investigation found that Evilempire.com featured photos and contact information from Backpage and offered no apparent way for users to submit content directly, the release said.

Liz McDougall, Backpage’s general counsel, said in a September interview that the company is on firm legal ground and works hard to report abuses of the website.