The founder of a California-based pornography empire has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for sex trafficking. Michael James Pratt, who founded the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website, pleaded guilty in June to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of conspiracy to commit the same crime.
Federal prosecutors said Pratt and his co-defendants used force, fraud and coercion to recruit hundreds of women, many in their late teens, for adult videos. The women were plied with alcohol and marijuana before being rushed into signing contracts they were not allowed to read. Some reported being sexually assaulted and held in hotel rooms unwillingly until filming ended.
Pratt was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list when he was arrested in Madrid in 2022, three years after he fled while facing sex-trafficking charges. A New Zealand native, he founded GirlsDoPorn in San Diego. In 2019, he and others were charged with sex crimes after a civil lawsuit by 22 women who claimed victimisation through fraud and breach of contract.
US District Judge Janis Sammartino handed down the sentence in San Diego. Co-defendants Matthew Isaac Wolfe, who handled day-to-day operations, was sentenced to 14 years; Ruben Andre Garcia, an adult producer and performer, received 20 years; and cameraman Theodore Gyi was sentenced to four years.
