A New Zealand porn boss charged with sex trafficking, after 22 young American women claimed they were conned into appearing in sex videos, is on the run from US authorities.
The United States Department of Justice has issued a media release overnight describing Michael James Pratt as a "fugitive".
Pratt heads adult video provider Girls Do Porn, the target of a claim in the San Diego Superior Court by 22 women.
They claim Girls Do Porn was advertised on Craigslist as a modelling website and they were lied to about the distribution of pornography they took part in, instead allegedly being told the material would only be sold on DVD to "private collectors" and "small video stores" in New Zealand, Australia and Europe.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges the resulting videos were posted directly to the internet where they have been hugely popular — the Department of Justice's US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said financial records showed the websites had generated more than $17 million in revenue.
Now Pratt, co-owner Matthew Wolfe, and adult film performer and producer Ruben Garcia have been charged with sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and, with a fourth person, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion.
The first charge has a minimum penalty of 15 years in jail and a maximum penalty of life in custody and a $250,000 fine.
The three other defendants are all in custody or accounted for, but the department said 36-year-old Pratt "is a fugitive".
[Source:NZHerald]
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