YNOT – A Tempe, Ariz., man is in Maricopa County (Ariz.) Jail after his arrest Thursday on multiple charges related to the production and distribution of child pornography, possibly in connection with the adult website BackroomCastingCouch.com.
Antonio Adrian Gonzalez, 28, told Chandler, Ariz., police he worked as a “talent recruiter” for adult websites including Eric Whitaker’s Backroom Casting Couch. Whitaker last month attracted the investigational attention of Phoenix-area law enforcement and renewed displeasure among local media when he announced via Twitter that he routinely has unprotected sex with young women for Backroom Casting Couch and sister site ExploitedCollegeGirls.com, even though he has tested positive for genital herpes. Various media outlets have termed the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based sites and Whitaker himself “sleazy” and worse.
The two websites compose the Fcuk [sic] Cash affiliate program, and neither is a stranger to controversy. In 2010, Backroom Casting Couch raised local ire after an 18-year-old Arizona State University student claimed Whitaker and Gonzalez “harrassed” her into shooting explicit content but promised to show the material only inside the website’s members area. Instead, Whitaker broadcast the video on numerous free websites while spreading the rumor the sex-on-tape adventure caused the coed to lose her college scholarship. Phoenix New Times debunked Whitaker’s questionable relationship with the truth in an interview with the young woman.
A spokesperson for the Chandler Police Department said detectives from Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe began investigating Gonzalez after receiving numerous complaints about the man using social media and email to lure underage girls for performances in pornographic materials. In addition to recruiting for other websites, Gonzalez owns at least two of his own: PhotosByGonzo.com and GonzoModeling.com.
According to police reports, Gonzalez confessed to filming himself having sex with girls and young as 16. Gonzalez also admitted he knew the girls were underage at the time.
He is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of furnishing obscene materials to a minor, two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of sexual abuse. Additional charges are pending, according to the arrest report.
While Arizona law does not criminalize intentional transmission of a sexually transmitted disease, a sex-crimes detective told Phoenix New Times that officers are looking into a suggestion from CriminalDefenseLawyer.com: “Courts may consider the intentional transmission of an STD to be an aggravated assault.” At the very least, the content on Whitaker’s website may be subjected to increased scrutiny under federal labeling and recordkeeping laws.
No representatives from any of the websites returned requests for comment.
