SAN DIEGO – In a federal indictment reportedly filed November 6, GirlsDoPorn owner Michael Pratt and four other defendants are charged with additional crimes beyond those contained in a previously announced indictment.
In the newly revealed indictment, Pratt, Matthew Wolfe, Ruben Garcia, Valorie Moser, Amberlyn Dee Nored and another defendant whose name is redacted in the document are charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. Pratt, Wolfe and Garcia also a varying number of counts of actual sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion in addition to the conspiracy charge (Pratt and Garcia are named under each charge, while Wolfe is named in some but not others). Pratt alone faces charges of production of child pornography and sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud and coercion.
According to the indictment, beginning on an “unknown date” but not later than “approximately 2012,” the defendants “conspired and agreed with each other to knowingly, in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce, recruit, entice harbor, transport, provide, obtain, advertise, maintain, patronize, and solicit by any means a person… knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, and any combination of such means, would be used to cause these persons to engage in a commercial sex act,” in violation of federal law.
The indictment further alleges that on or about September 1, 2012, Pratt “knowingly, in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce, recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained Minor Victim 1 and benefited financially and by receiving anything of value from participation in a venture, which recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained Minor Victim:, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, and any combination of such means, would be used to cause Minor Victim 1 to engage in a commercial sex act.”
Prosecutors also claim in the indictment that Pratt “had a reasonable opportunity to observe Minor Victim 1” and was “knowing and in reckless disregard that Minor Victim 1 was under the age of 18 years old.”
The indictment also contains forfeiture provisions by which, upon conviction, the defendants will be required to “forfeit… all right, title, and interest in (1) any property, real or personal, constituting or derived from, any proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offense; and (2) any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of the offense.” This property to be forfeited would include, but not be limited to the domain names girlsdoporn.com, girlsdotoys.com and beginmodeling.com.
While attorneys representing the defendants have not yet commented on the allegations in the newly revealed indictment, in the course of the related civil trial, the GirlsDoPorn legal team told the court there was “overwhelming evidence” that all the performers depicted on the site were of legal age who chose to appear in pornographic videos of their own volition.
“No one forced them to go on that flight and travel to another city to do an adult film, no one put them under duress and forced them to sign a contract, to make these statements or to ultimately have sex on camera,” defense attorney Aaron Sadock reportedly said in his opening statement in the civil case.
According to NBC 7 San Diego, Garcia, Pratt and Moser all pleaded not guilty to the charges in the new indictment at a hearing last Friday. Clark had not been arrested as of the hearing and was not represented by an attorney at the hearing. Pratt is currently at large, reportedly outside the U.S. and is deemed a fugitive.
