NEW YORK CITY—It seems like just yesterday (but was in fact just two weeks ago) that Amnesty International voted to support the legalization of consensual prostitution across the globe—but apparently, the U.S. Department of Justice hasn't yet gotten the message, since earlier today, federal marshals from the office of acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Kelly Currie and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security(!), as well as New York City police, raided the offices of Rentboy.com in downtown Manhattan. The raiders seized several boxes of records from the company's Union Square offices and $1.4 million from six bank accounts allegedly used by the company.
Busted in the raid were Rentboy.com CEO Jeffrey Hurant (aka Jeffrey Davids), as well as employees Michael Sean Belman (aka Sean Van Sant), Clint Calero, Edward Lorenz Estanol (aka Eli Lewis), Shane Lukas (aka Hawk Kinkaid), Diana Milagros Mattos (aka Coco Lopez), and Marco Soto Decker.
"As alleged, Rentboy.com attempted to present a veneer of legality, when in fact this Internet brothel made millions of dollars from the promotion of illegal prostitution," said Currie in a press statement.
The Department of Homeland Security became involved because of money transfer allegations.
"The facilitation and promotion of prostitution offenses across state lines and international borders is a federal crime made even more egregious when it's blatantly advertised by a global criminal enterprise," stated Glenn Sorge, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
Rentboy.com, which has been in existence for about 20 years, hosts advertisements offering "companionship," which authorities have translated to mean "prostitution services," though the company denies that interpretation. Such advertisements may cost several hundred dollars, though the site's 10,000-plus members in 2,100 cities across the globe pay $59.95 per month to take advantage of "the original and world's largest male escort site."
The company even sponsors its own awards show, "The Hookies," whose promotional material, according to the San Jose Mercury News, "recogniz[es] 17 categories covering all aspects of the oldest profession as presented in the newest media."
"Escort profile pages generally detail the sexual acts each escort is willing to perform and the price," stated U.S. Homeland Security Special Agent Susan Ruiz in the complaint she filed against the company and its employees, which was just unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Apprised of the early morning raid on Rentboy's offices, the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance issued a statement in support of the company and its employees.
"[A]s the government continues its relentless and often unconstitutional harassment of sites advertising legal adult services, more and more human rights are violated and more individuals are placed at risk," stated Woodhull CEO Ricci Levy. "Make no mistake, law enforcement officials are attacking those involved in the escort industry for exercising their constitutional rights to free association, free expression, and free assembly. Based on recent actions, it is clear that the Department of Justice and many lawmakers believe that escorts should NOT have the freedom to exercise these fundamental rights ...
"The impact of government actions in the ongoing War on Sex, including attacks on sites like Rentboy.com, is the systematic elimination of constitutionally protected civil liberties and the infringement of human rights," she added.
Gay civil liberties activist Bill Dobbs attended the arraignment of the defendants in federal court this afternoon.
“This prosecution is another outrageous attack on sexual freedom by the Obama administration via Homeland Security, an agency that’s supposed to protect against terrorism," Dobbs told AVN. "Press were tipped to the raid on RentBoy.com’s offices, splashing it in the media as a money-laundering and prostitution case, but outside the courtroom in Brooklyn Federal Court, a federal prosecutor conceded to reporters that there are no money laundering charges.”
Since the ads on Rentboy.com are created and paid for by the site's members, it may be difficult for the government to link Hurant and some of the other employees to the alleged illegal activities practiced by those advertisers, but that's what trials are all about—and it probably doesn't help that the motto on the company's Twitter page is, "Money can't buy you love … but the rest is negotiable." If convicted, each defendant could get as much as five years in federal prison.
