SAN DIEGO—GirlsDoPorn.com founder Michael Pratt, who has been on the run since trial proceedings against him for sex trafficking and other felonies began in late summer 2019, has been placed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List, City News Service reports.
Pratt's partner, Matthew Wolfe, pleaded guilty in July to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, leaving Pratt as the lone defendant yet to appear before a judge in the multi-tiered case, which is believed to have been the first indictment obtained under the controversial SESTA/FOSTA act, signed into law by then President Donald Trump in 2018.
Wolfe admitted in his plea to taking part in what prosecutors described as a scheme to coerce women to appear in pornographic videos under the false pretense that the videos would only be distributed to private customers outside the U.S., and not posted online, despite always intending to release them via the internet. Co-defendant Ruben Andre Garcia, who worked for roughly six years as a recruiter and performer for GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to comparable charges, and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Videographer Theodore "Teddy" Gyi and administrative assistant Valorie Moser have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Wolfe is expected to be sentenced later this year by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino.
The federal charges against GirlsDoPorn's operators came in October 2019 admidst the already-underway civil trial against all but Gyi, which ended in January 2020 with Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright awarding the 22 Jane Does in that case more than $12.7 million in compensatory damages. Then in December 2021, District Judge Sammartino ruled that all 402 women known to have shot videos for GirlsDoPorn should be awarded the rights to said videos and accompanying images. In addition, Sammartino granted restitution in the amount of $907,000 to 23 of Garcia's victims for medical and mental health care, along with other expenses.
Founder Pratt is charged with 19 felonies including the production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a minor, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. At a Wednesday news conference, FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Stavey Moy said that Pratt, a citizen of New Zealand, "has the financial means to be anywhere in the world" and has ties to or may visit countries including Australia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, Chile, Croatia and France
With Pratt's placement on the Most Wanted Fugitives list, the reward for information leading to his capture was increased to $100,000.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or send tips to tips.fbi.gov. Those outside the U.S. are advised to contact their nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
"Our hope with the information and increase of the reward is that someone, with any information, no matter how small, will come forward," Moy said.
