"The founder of a California-based porn empire that recruited women with false modeling offers was sentenced Monday to 27 years in federal prison. Michael James Pratt pleaded guilty in June in federal court in San Diego. Pratt was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list when he was arrested in Madrid in 2022, three years after he fled while facing sex trafficking charges. A New Zealand native, he founded the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website in San Diego."
"In 2019, he and others were charged in San Diego with sex crimes after being targeted in a civil lawsuit by 22 women who claimed they were victimized by fraud and breach of contract. The women said they were plied with alcohol and marijuana before being rushed through signing a contract, which they were not allowed to read. Some said they were sexually assaulted and held in hotel rooms unwillingly until filming had ended."
"The women were told the videos would go to private DVD collections overseas, but instead they were widely disseminated on the GirlsDoPorn network of sites and free pornography sites. Many asked that the videos be taken down from the Internet, but their requests were ignored. A judge in 2020 found in favor of the women and handed down a $12.7 million judgment against Pratt, Matthew Isaac Wolfe and adult producer and performer Ruben Andre Garcia."
Michael James Pratt pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges and received a 27-year federal prison sentence. Federal prosecutors said Pratt and co-defendants used force, fraud and coercion to recruit hundreds of women, many in their late teens, with false modeling offers. The women reported being plied with alcohol and marijuana, rushed into unread contracts, sexually assaulted, and held in hotel rooms until filming concluded. Videos promised for private DVDs were widely uploaded across GirlsDoPorn networks and free porn sites, and takedown requests were ignored. A 2020 civil judgment awarded $12.7 million to 22 women who sued for fraud and breach of contract.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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