Christchurch-born Michael James Pratt is awaiting trial for sex trafficking and was on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted list when he tricked women into doing porn.
A New Zealander who was behind a production company which tricked women into becoming online porn stars—making him $17 million (NZ$30 million) before he was caught—is now facing the prospect of having $770,000 (NZ$1.3 million) in cryptocurrency seized by American authorities as he awaits trial for sex trafficking.
It isn’t often a New Zealander makes the FBI’s top ten most wanted fugitives list, but Michael James Pratt achieved that distinction.
Straight out of the elite Christchurch Boys’ High, Pratt and his close friend Matthew Isaac Wolfe went into business together.
Like many late 90s startups, they chose the internet. But unlike most, they went into the fast-growing online porn industry.
They launched three websites, all of which showed short clips of X-rated content for free, luring users to click on links for subscription porn sites from which they received commissions.
After six years of this, Pratt decided he could make more money by producing original material and established the subscription site GirlsDoPorn, featuring 18- to 22-year-olds with no history in the industry, which was its major selling point.
By 2009, Pratt had moved himself and the entire operation to San Diego in the United States, where he was joined by Wolfe.
Two more sites followed, both on the subscription model. Altogether, the three websites generated revenues of $17 million, according to law enforcement documents.
Prosecutors allege the two men, along with accomplices, advertised lucrative clothed modelling work paying between $3,000 and $5,000, along with travel expenses.
When it was revealed that the work was filming adult videos, the women, many of whom were struggling financially, were assured that the material would be sold privately to customers overseas, not in the United States. But in reality, it appeared on the group’s websites, from where it has been downloaded thousands of times.
If the women tried to back out, they were threatened with legal action, told their flights home would be cancelled, or that any footage filmed so far would be sent to friends and family.
Criminal Charges Laid, Money Taken
A civil class action in 2019, brought by 22 women, resulted in Pratt and his associates being found liable for more than $20 million in damages, plus costs and interest.
Criminal charges were also laid in the Southern District of California relating to sex trafficking crimes.
But while Wolfe was in custody, Pratt had vanished with the money, which he had converted into cryptocurrency.
And thus came his appearance on the list of America’s most notorious wanted criminals, with a $100,000 bounty on his head.
Last March, Wolfe was sentenced to 14 years for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Another member of the group, porn actor and producer Ruben Andre Garcia, has been sentenced to 20 years.
And now, at last, Pratt is to face justice after being found staying at a hotel in Madrid under a false name. He was found due to a lead from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tip line, authorities claim.
“The capture of Michael Pratt is an example of how the FBI will pursue justice beyond U.S. borders—you can run, but you can’t hide,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego field office, Stacey Moy.
He is to face 19 charges, including sex trafficking, production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a minor, and money laundering.
According to public court filings, Pratt and his co-defendants used force, fraud, and coercion to recruit hundreds of young adult women, most in their late teens, and at least one minor victim to appear in GirlsDoPorn videos.
He has been extradited to the United States, where he has been denied bail and is awaiting trial starting Sept. 2. He faces life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. authorities have lodged a forfeiture order for three cryptocurrency accounts containing a total of almost $770,000.
Victim’s Testimony
At Wolfe’s sentencing, one woman recalled the day she learned that her pornographic video received more than 300 million views on Pornhub, one of the most-visited websites in the world.
“That ad seemed harmless, but it wrecked my entire life. In an instant, the life I had was gone: My hopes gone, my relationships gone, everything was gone … The fallout from the videos spread to every part of my life like cancer, and that cancer remains to this day, making it virtually impossible for me to start a new life.
“I lost my modelling career, my college years, my whole twenties, my name, my career path, my friends, and my family. Everything I had built was gone, and so too was my future. Doors that were once opened were slammed in my face.
“Matthew Wolfe stole my life, and it wasn’t just my life. He stole hundreds of lives. What kind of price do you put on a life?”