Girls Do Porn Criminal Case Continues

Michael James Pratt, owner of Girls Do Porn is still wanted by the FBI. They have even created a wanted poster, and are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to his arrest.

From approximately 2012 to October 2019, in the Southern District of California and elsewhere, Michael James Pratt and others allegedly participated in a conspiracy to recruit young adult and minor women to engage in commercial sex acts by force, fraud and coercion. Pratt and a co-conspirator owned and operated a pornography production company and online pornography websites, “GirlsDoPorn” and “GirlsDoToys.” Pratt and his co-conspirators allegedly recruited young women from around the United States by posting advertisements for clothed modeling jobs on the Internet. Pratt and his co-conspirators advised the women responding to the ads that the jobs were in fact for pornographic videos and that they would be paid between $3,000 to $5,000 U.S. dollars for a one-day video shoot.

To persuade the women to participate, Pratt and his co-conspirators allegedly convinced the women they would remain anonymous, that their videos would be provided to private collectors on DVD, and would not be posted on the Internet. Pratt allegedly paid other young women working at his direction to act as references or provide false assurances to the women that, if they filmed a video, the video would not be posted online. Some women were not permitted to leave the shooting locations until the videos were made and others were allegedly forced to perform certain sex acts they had declined to do. Allegedly, some of the women were sexually assaulted. Pratt’s pornography websites generated more than $17 million U.S. dollars in revenue. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Pratt in the United States District Court, Southern District of California, on November 6, 2019.

Nearly two dozen women sued Pratt and his associates for using fraud and coercion to get them to appear in pornographic videos. The women won a $13 million judgment in January, but by the time the ruling was announced, Pratt had apparently fled the country. Meanwhile, the federal government charged Pratt with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Prosecutors later added child pornography charges because at least one of his victims was under 18.

Last week Pratt’s co-conspirator Andre Garcia (Ruben Andre Garcia) took a plea deal and pled guilty to 2 of the counts, one of which was sex trafficking. As part of the deal, he admitted that he considered with the owners of GirlsDoPorn.com to fraudulently coerce young women to appear in sex videos.

“This defendant was a key player in a despicable fraud that has devastated the victims,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “We will continue to fight for justice for them, and to prevent others from becoming victims of these schemes.” Brewer commended the excellent work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Green and Alexandra F. Foster, as well as FBI agents and members of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, on a case that resulted in tremendous pain for the victims.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said, “The FBI is committed to investigating those who prey upon trusting women and girls, causing pain and humiliation for their own personal gain. Today’s guilty plea of Garcia is just a small victory in the ongoing battle with those who commit sex trafficking.”

Garcia pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill L. Burkhardt to Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, and Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion. Garcia, the first of six defendants to plead guilty, admitted that he worked from 2013 to 2019 as a recruiter and adult film performer for GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys adult websites, which were run by co-defendants Michael James Pratt and Matthew Isaac Wolfe.

Garcia admitted in his plea agreement that in order to recruit victims to appear in the videos, he and his co-conspirators threatened, deceived and lied to them, promising that the videos would never be posted online, that “no one” would ever find out, and that the videos would never be released in the United States. In actuality, the co-conspirators were posting the videos on GirlsDoPorn, GirlsDoToys, and PornHub, one of the world’s most heavily-trafficked porn sites. Many of the victim videos were viewed millions of times.

Garcia also admitted that he recruited and paid other young women to act as “references” to falsely reassure reluctant victims that the videos would not be posted online and that there was “no way” anyone would find out. Garcia used young women as recruiters because victims “were more likely to believe other young women.” The references were paid a fixed fee for every victim they attempted to recruit and additional compensation for victims who agreed to film a video.

Before the video shoots, Garcia offered victims marijuana or alcohol, and some drank or smoked with Garcia before filming. When some victims changed their minds about going forward or finishing the video shoots, Garcia and other co-conspirators threatened to sue them, cancel their flights home, or post the footage that was already filmed online, which, unbeknownst to the victims, was going to happen anyway.

Garcia admitted that victims were also misled about how long the video shoots lasted. Most were told that the video production would take around 30 minutes when they typically lasted for several hours. Garcia admitted that the sex was rough and caused many victims pain, and, in some cases bleeding. When victims asked to stop filming, Garcia and other co-conspirators told the victims that they had to keep going and finish the videos.  Hotel room doors were often blocked by camera and recording equipment.

The exact details of the plea deal are not available, including just how much jail time (if any) he agreed to. Of the 8 charges, Garcia’s deal only included two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion.

Andre Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino on March 5, 2021, at 9 a.m. The next hearing in the ongoing case is January 22, 2021, at 2:00 p.m.