US federal authorities dropped the charges against the former employees of the website Rentboy.com over prostitution allegations. However, the case against the male escort online site's chief executive continues, the court records stated on Wednesday.
The former six employees of Rentboy.com website were dismissed from the filed charges, granted by the Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom, New York Times reported. The decision was made after the prosecutors indicted Jeffrey Hurant, the former chief executive, who pleaded not guilty to charges that he promoted prostitution and on counts of money laundering.
Hurrant along with six employees were arrested and charged in August, while authorities raided and shutdown the online site. The said website is also the largest online-based male escort service. It is also said, the site gained million of dollars profit through promoting prostitution as it is also describe as an Internet Brothel.
According to Reuters, the case of the website caused to outrage gay and civil rights activists. In September, activists protested, criticized the federal investigation, saying the website had been operating in open view for nearly two decades.
The other former Rentboy.com employees whose charges were dismissed were Michael Sean Belman, the director of the site; Edward Lorenz Estanol, an escort and former social media coordinator for the site; Diana Milagros Mattos, a former saleswoman; Clint Calero, a sales executive; and Marco Soto Decker, an accountant.
A spokeswoman for Robert L. Capers, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, refused to make a comment regarding the dismissals. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, and it means that they could later be refiled. Lawyers for some of the former employees whose charges were dismissed expressed relief.
Rentboy.com, started way back in 1996 and it became the largest online male escort business on the online world, authorities described.
