A 'porn king' who is among the FBI's Most Wanted is on the run - possibly in Australia - after making $24million from an illegal sex ring, while his Kiwi co-conspirator faces life behind bars in the US.
Michael James Pratt, 39, created the 'GirlsDoPorn' website while living in Brisbane in 2006 - before moving to the United States and creating the multi-million dollar empire.
Now Pratt is wanted for sex trafficking and the production of child pornography with the FBI offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.
US authorities allege Pratt along with his New Zealand business partner, childhood friend Matthew Isaac Wolfe and 'adult film performer' Ruben Andre Garcia used deception and false promises to lure the alleged victims.
Twenty-two female victims, identified as Jane Doe 1 to 22, filed a civil lawsuit that they were fooled into participating in pornography under the false promise they wouldn't appear online, prompting an FBI investigation.
Charges were laid and a 99-day trial ensued with Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright in 2020 ordering the trio to pay the women more than $18million.
Michael James Pratt (pictured) , 39, came up with the idea of the 'GirlsDoPorn' website while living in Brisbane in 2006 - before moving to the United States and creating a business empire
The 'porn king' is among the FBI's Most Wanted and is on the run - possibly in Australia - after making $24million from an illegal sex ring
The Plot
The women allegedly responded to ads on Craiglist which sought 'clothed models' with payments of around $7000 before it was eventually revealed the job was for adult films.
Authorities said they convinced the women their videos would not be posted online, with some told they were only for a private Australian collector.
Many of the videos were shot in hotel rooms or short term rental units in San Diego, with the victims flown in to shoot the videos.
The victims were told the contracts they were presented with simply stated what the victims had been told, including that the videos would not be posted online.
Nowhere in the contract did it mention 'GirlsDoPorn,' 'GirlsDoToys' or pornography at all.
The companies were instead hidden with innocuous names, such as 'Bubblegum Casting' and the victims were not provided a copy of the contracts they signed.
'Porn king' Michael Pratt (pictured) who is among the FBI's Most Wanted is on the run - possibly in Australia - after making $24million from an illegal sex ring
As a part of the conspiracy victims were coerced into completing the videos once they were underway.
If they did not comply they were threatened with being sued, having their flight home cancelled, and with having the videos posted online, if they did not complete the sex scenes.
The victims were also misled about how long the video shoots lasted as many were under the illusion the video production would be around half an hour, when in reality often lasted for several hours.
The sex for the video shoots was described in court documents as 'rough' and caused many victims pain, in some instances even causing bleeding.
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ShareThe victims were also often paid significantly less than originally promised after the group would cite a tattoo, a mole, or some other perceived 'imperfection' as a reason for paying them less.
Once the videos were posted online many victims reached out seeking to get their videos taken off the websites but their calls were blocked or ignored.
Pratt's pornography websites 'GirlsDoPorn' and 'GirlsDoToys' are said to have generated more than $24 million in revenue.
According to court documents the site GirlsDoPorn charged a subscription fee to access the websites content.
To promote the content on both sites, shorter versions of the videos were posted on free porn sites such as PornHub.com - one of the world's most popular porn sites. According to PornHub's view counters, many of these videos were viewed millions of times
To promote the content on both sites, shorter versions of the videos were posted on free porn sites such as PornHub.com - one of the world's most popular porn sites.
According to PornHub's view counters, many of these videos were viewed millions of times.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Pratt in the United States District Court, Southern District of California, in November 2019 and he has been on the run ever since.
The human cost of his actions, according to the women, was described as tragic with some contemplating suicide after their videos appeared online and boyfriends, family, work colleagues and others in their communities saw them.
22 women victims, identified as Jane Doe 1 to 22, filed a civil lawsuit that they were fooled into participating in pornography under the false promise they wouldn't appear online, with said filing prompting an FBI investigation
All of Pratt's co-conspirators have been arrested and have either pleaded guilty or are awaiting trial.
Special agent in charge, Suzanne Turner, labelled Pratt as 'a danger to society' as he is 'likely still victimising people while on the run with his continued lies and false promises'.
'The defendant lied and tricked these women, made millions along the way, and left his co-conspirators to face justice while he fled,' said Ms Turner.
Pratt has ties to numerous countries and is understood to have the financial means to cross borders with relative ease.
Both Australia and New Zealand have been cited as potential locations where Pratt may be hiding.
Chief co-conspirator admits coercing young women
Co-conspirator Matthew Wolfe (pictured), 40 - a childhood friend of Pratt - admitted to coercing young women, many as young as 18, into performing in videos viewed over a billion times
In the US federal court on Monday, co-conspirator Matthew Wolfe, 40 - a childhood friend of Pratt - admitted to coercing young women, many as young as 18, into performing in videos viewed over a billion times.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, which has a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
He confessed to filming more than 100 porn videos, many under the belief of the victim they would never appear online.
In 2019, the NZ Herald revealed Wolfe and Pratt had been involved in the porn industry since leaving high school, founding three sites in 2000.
Their business model consisted of teenage amateurs who had never done porn before and young women who 'looked like the girl next door'.
'This is the one and only time they do porn,' the website claimed.
Wolfe is scheduled to be sentenced at a San Diego court on October 10.
'Performer' and producer Ruben Garcia is jailed
Co-conspirator, adult film performer and producer Ruben Andre Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2020, for his role in the two websites.
He was found guilty of recruiting young women to appear in sex videos for adult websites using force, fraud, and coercion on the two sites.
From approximately 2013 to 2017, Garcia worked as a recruiter, producer, and actor for the sites.
He admitted to recruiting victims to appear in pornography videos for the websites promising the videos would never be posted online.
At his sentencing in 2020, Acting U.S Attorney Randy Grossman labelled his crimes as 'utterly callous in nature' and driven purely by greed.
'This defendant lured one victim after another with fake modelling ads, false promises and deceptive front companies, ultimately devolving to threats to coerce these women into making sex videos,' said Mr Grossman.
'Even when victims told Garcia how the scheme had devastated their lives, he showed no regard for their well-being. The crime was utterly callous in nature and there is no excuse or justification for his conduct, which was driven purely by greed. The harm inflicted by this defendant will last a lifetime for his victims. Hopefully today's sentence will offer them a sense of justice.'
Two others charged over the pornography ring
Two others have been charged over the conspiracy with cameraman Theodore 'Teddy' Wilfred Gyi, 39, and bookkeeper Valorie Moser, 44, still awaiting to learn their fate.
They both pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, the same charge Wolfe pleaded guilty to.
Two others have been charged over the conspiracy with cameraman Theodore 'Teddy' Wilfred Gyi, 39, and bookkeeper Valorie Moser, 44, still awaiting to learn their fate
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