Backpage founder faces 2nd trial over what prosecutors say was a scheme to sell sex through ad sales

PHOENIX (AP) — A founder of Backpage.com will face his second trial on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money in what authorities say was a scheme to knowingly sell ads for sex on the classified site. Jury selection for Michael Lacey and four former Backpage employees will resume for a second day Wednesday. Their first trial ended in a mistrial when a judge concluded prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no one faced such a charge. Backpage’s operators said they never allowed ads for sex and used people and automated tools to try to delete such ads.