BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Jeffrey Hurant, the former chief executive officer of shuttered gay escort site Rentboy.com, may have more to worry about than prostitution and money-laundering charges if one of the accusations in the federal indictment unsealed Wednesday sticks: Prosecutors allege Hurant and his staff knew the site was used to traffic in underage sex.
The three-count indictment alleges Rentboy did not verify the ages of escorts who advertised on the site and knowingly did business with a Florida escort agency accused of luring young Hungarians into sexual slavery in the U.S. The three owners of the agency are under indictment for racketeering and sex trafficking.
Hurant faces three federal charges: two of money laundering and one of prostitution. Prosecutors indicated the prostitution count is backed up by employee testimony that the word “pimp” was used frequently in internal communication.
“In one case, a Rentboy.com employee told a manager that an account was held by a ‘guy who brings in 10-12 boys [per] year to pimp out here,’” the indictment states.
Hurant, 51, and Rentboy parent company Easy Rent Systems Inc. are named as defendants in the case, which grew from an August 2015 raid of the corporation’s Manhattan offices. Hurant and six employees were arrested by New York City police working in cooperation with Department of Homeland Security agents. The officers seized paperwork, computers, six bank and investment accounts containing about $1.6 million and the 20-year-old website.
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office said criminal complaints remain outstanding against the six employees arrested with Hurant, but none of them were named in Wednesday’s indictment. Attorneys for two of the employees said their clients and the government are discussing non-prosecution agreements.
According to court documents, Rentboy’s active database listed more than 10,500 escorts, each of whom paid a minimum fee of $59.95 monthly plus additional advertising fees. The site attracted about 500,000 unique visitors daily and generated more than $10 million in the five years immediately preceding the raid.
Prosecutors seek a 25-year prison sentence for Hurant and forfeiture of the money and other goods authorities seized last year. In addition, the federal government wants permanent possession of the domain name Rentboy.com.
