GirlsDoPorn (Update)

There has been an update in the GirlsDoPorn story (episode #156 from 2020). Earlier this week, officials in Spain arrested Michael James Pratt, the founder of GirlsDoPorn who became a fugitive back in 2019...

Between 2009 and 2020, a pornographic website known as GirlsDoPorn racked up approximately 680 million views on websites such as PornHub, generating roughly $17 million in profit for its owners, Michael Pratt and Matthew Wolfe, a pair of friends from New Zealand who'd moved to the U.S. to begin setting up their enterprise in 2008.

The site was built upon a series of videos of the same name - GirlsDoPorn - in which young women would be interviewed and then have sex on camera. It was a pretty basic scheme that capitalized upon the "casting couch" craze of the time, and eventually spawned some spin-offs, such as GirlsDoToys and MomPOV. By all indications, GirlsDoPorn appeared to be a successful start-up in the notoriously-seedy and nepotistic world of pornography... but, sadly, was built upon a series of incredibly damaging lies.

As documented in my original episode from October of 2020, the founders and operators of GirlsDoPorn had often lied to the young women featured on their site, convincing them to fly out and film pornographic videos when they had been originally contacted for modeling work. Many of the hundreds of women filmed were subjected to abusive treatment on-set, and were often plied with alcohol, marijuana, and other substances before signing any contracts (copies of which they were not allowed to have). If they expressed any indication of backing out, they were often threatened with not being paid, being kicked out of their hotel room, and/or having their return flights cancelled. Some were even barricaded in the room and prevented from leaving until they finished filming; others reported sexual abuse.

Afterward, even if the young women have complied fully with the abusive and painful filming demands, were doxxed by the website's owners, who posted their personal information on scummy websites and message boards; information such as their names, what school they were attending, where they worked, their hometowns, sometimes even their addresses or their family's addresses. A lot of this information was posted on the website pornwikileaks.com, which - coincidentally - was also owned and operated by GirlsDoPorn founder Michael Pratt.

A handful of years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the men involved with sex trafficking, along with a littany of other crimes. Some of the men involved in the scheme, such as Ruben "Andre" Garcia, were charged with sexual assault.

The multiple cases have been working their way through the bloated federal court system over the past two years, during which time, numerous hearings and trials have been delayed (due primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic). However, most of the individuals involved have been sentenced in the time since my original episode.

In December of 2020, Ruben Garcia pled guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. The following June (2021), he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, more than the 12.5 years suggested by prosecutors. Following his release, he will spend 10 years on supervised release.

In January of 2021, cameraman Teddy Gyi - who interviewed and conned many of the women featured in the videos - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. In November of 2022, he was sentenced to four years in prison.

In April of 2021, Valerie Moser pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. She had convinced many of the girls to follow through on the scheme.

One of the website's co-owners, Matthew Wolfe, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and was later sentenced to life imprisonment. Wolfe had helped create the website alongside his childhood friend, Michael Pratt, whose name was absent from the numerous lists of convictions and sentences over the past few years.

That's because Michael Pratt, the original founder of GirlsDoPorn - who almost singlehandedly started the site and created this damaging scheme - fled the U.S. as his trial began unfolding back in 2019. He'd flown from Tijuana, Mexico to his native New Zealand, where he promptly disappeared. In September of 2022, he was added to the FBI Top 10 Most Wanted List, but his trail seemed to have gone cold for approximately three years.

That is... until just recently.

Earlier this week, Michael James Pratt was arrested in Spain. Per the FBI's website:

"Pratt was arrested by Spanish National Police on December 21, 2022, in Madrid, Spain, pursuant to an Interpol Red Notice. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. Pratt is being held in Spain pending extradition."

According to the news outlet El Espanol, Pratt had been hiding out in Madrid, and checked into a hotel in the center of the city on Wednesday, the 21st, using one of his many aliases. He had been theorized to have been hiding in plain sight for quite some time, since fleeing to New Zealand back in 2019, and had likely been living under numerous psuedonyms. His arrest seems to have confirmed this suspicion.

Surprisingly, Pratt was the first member of the FBI's Most Wanted list to be arrested in Spain. I know that's not very important, but it's still a unique distinction.

A video of Michael Pratt's arrest was posted on social media by Spanish police, and is undoubtedly some lovely festive schadenfreude for the many women that suffered over several years because of his malicious decisions.

Brian Holm, an attorney that represented dozens of the victims, only to go on and be harassed by Pratt and his associates, told reporters with Motherboard:

"Personally, I'm happy they found him. But I'm even happier for all of his victims. Bringing Pratt to justice will bring the closure they need to heal. Christmas came a bit early this year."

The 40-year-old Michael Pratt is set to be extradited back to the U.S. at some point in the near-future, and has a bit of a rocky road ahead. He faces federal sex crimes charges, including sex trafficking, sex trafficking of a minor, production of child sex abuse images, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in connection with GirlsDoPorn. While I don't try and predict criminal sentences... I think it's a fair bet to say that he's likely already spent his final days as a free man.

While this story is far from finished being told, I think we can safely say that it is finally - thankfully - resolved.

Barring any more updates, this will likely be the final episode of the podcast for a couple of weeks. Personally, I'm just glad that we can go out on a high note. That being said... I hope you all have a wonderful, magical, fulfilling holiday season, and I'll talk to you all again very soon. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone.