Pornhub Lawsuits: 300 Say Site Profited From Trafficking, Abuse

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Even after the women’s videos were released on the site, the victims said they were doxxed, and their personal info was released to the internet. Women also testified that the men refused to stop the porn shoots, and that they were threatened with withholding their hotel reservations and plane tickets they were going to use to return home. During his own testimony in October of 2019, Matthew Wolfe would admit that he and Andre Garcia were continuing to recruit young women to film scenes for the website, despite them standing trial for widespread fraud. He also admitted to continuing to upload scenes to the website using the same business practices that had resulted in this lawsuit, admitting on the stand that these women were not being told that the videos were ever going to be uploaded to GirlsDoPorn… However, when questioned about the specifics of the lawsuit – such as whether these women were being told that the footage they were filming was only going to be distributed on DVDs in foreign nations – Wolfe decided to play stupid.

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They might be playing video games with friends and video chatting on their phones instead of using in-game communication features, essentially squeezing multiple hours worth of entertainment media into one. “Mr. Gyi was present in the hotel room for many shoots,” the plaintiff’s trial brief states. “However, Garcia would often ask him to leave the room while Garcia paid the models and presented the contracts.” A porn actor and producer who recruited young women under false pretenses to appear in videos for San Diego-based website GirlsDoPorn.com was sentenced Monday to 20 years in custody in connection with his pleas to federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges. In trial, defense attorneys argued that the women were over 18, understood what they were doing, accepted payment and in some cases returned to San Diego again and again to make more videos.

Pornhub removed millions of videos

• The videos were heavily monetized and globally distributed on Pornhub, the world’s largest and most popular porn site.
• The decision comes about four years after the women first took action against the San Diego–based adult film site, which creates and advertises videos featuring young “amateur” teens and college students who are usually about 18 to 20 years old.
• Prosecutors allege he and other GirlsDoPorn employees coerced hundreds of women to appear in pornographic videos under false pretenses, with most of the videos filmed in San Diego.
• Teens form more mature friendships and romantic relationships and they begin to feel a greater need to establish their own sexual identity.
• Sixty-two additional women are suing Pornhub’s parent company, claiming that the company failed to take down videos of their abuse as part of the sex trafficking operation Girls Do Porn.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of California recognizes the outstanding efforts of the FBI in San Diego; the FBI Legal Attaché in Spain; the U.S. Marshals Service; Spain’s Ministry of Justice; and law enforcement officials in Spain and Portugal; as well as the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, for their substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Pratt. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.©2024 GIZMODO USA LLC.

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It’s unknown when, exactly, Pratt fled the country, but lawyers for the numerous Jane Does allege that during the civil trial last year (2019), Pratt visited South America before he was scheduled to provide testimony. After this mysterious vacation, he flew from Tijuana, Mexico to New Zealand, and his trail has gone cold ever since. In that regard, the case continues to remain unsolved, because this is a problem that will never truly go away for the women that had to live through it. Reminders of this incident will continue to haunt them as long as the internet exists… And until those that did them harm are finally convicted for their alleged crimes.

• While some of these young women varied in certain ways – having been told different things by different people at different times – the beats of their story unfolded in almost identical ways.
• According to prosecutors, he tricked women into appearing in sex videos after promising them they would only be sold in DVD and not be distributed on the internet.
• Research shows that instead of simply creating rules without your child’s input, having open discussions with them on how to safely navigate the internet may be protective against cyberbullying.
• “Mr. Gyi was present in the hotel room for many shoots,” the plaintiff’s trial brief states.

A victim of the Girls Do Porn sex trafficking ring is suing Pornhub and its parent company, claiming that it intended to cause her severe emotional distress by hosting videos of her abuse. He said during the trial that he filmed around 100 videos for GirlsDoPorn and moved to the US in 2011 to help Pratt, his childhood friend from New Zealand. Wolfe, who was identified as the “person most qualified” to testify on behalf of the company, is also an owner of GirlsDoPorn’s affiliate website, GirlsDoToys.

On top of that, many instances of their peers’ sexual exploration through sexting had traveled down several slippery slopes, including cases where teens had been criminally charged for sharing x-rated media they took of themselves. Most of the videos created as a part of the conspiracy were shot at hotels or short-term rental units in the San Diego area. If one of the victims agreed to act in the pornographic video, Garcia and his co-conspirators promptly booked flights to San Diego within a day or two to limit the chances that the victim would change her mind.

The New Zealand native is charged in a 19-count indictment for allegedly running the now-defunct website. Charges against him include sex trafficking, production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a minor, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Pratt, who was the owner of the website GirlsDoPorn, was charged in October 2019 in the Southern District of California with sex trafficking crimes in connection with a scheme to deceive and coerce young women to appear in pornographic videos. Pratt was an international fugitive for more than three years before he was arrested in Spain in December 2022. The suit alleges that soon after it began publishing the GirlsDoPorn videos, Aylo began receiving takedown requests from the women featured in the films. But Aylo allegedly ignored those requests, even as the civil proceedings and trial in San Diego Superior Court brought to light the fraud and deception involved in making the videos, according to the complaint.

As teens’ sexual identity becomes more established, teens and young adults may turn to the internet for information. This is particularly true for LGBTQ+ teens, who may not be provided as much information in sexual education classes. Some teens are sexting, and while this is usually consensual, girls are more likely to report that they were pressured into sending images of themself, and similarly, boys were more likely to respond that they would ask for sexual pictures from a partner.