The owner of a pornography company from Christchurch has been added to the FBI’s list of the ten most wanted fugitives.
Michael James Pratt is charged with sex trafficking and the production of child sexual abuse material after allegedly coercing more than 20 women into performing in sex videos.
The FBI is currently offering US$100,000 (NZ$164,583) for information that will lead directly to his arrest.
“Pratt has victimised hundreds of young women through the course of this conspiracy,” said Supervisory Special Agent Renee Green.
The FBI said that Pratt is the “only major player” in the GirlsDoPorn scandal who is still at large.
He ran the GirlsDoPorn website out of San Deigo in California where the alleged abuse took place.
Pratt, who was raised in Christchurch and went to Christchurch Boys' High School, allegedly used internet ads, fake websites and email addresses to trick young women into thinking they were attending a modelling job.
Pratt and his associates would fly the women to California where they allegedly revealed the promise of a modelling job was a facade and when they tried to escape he would threaten them with lawsuits, cancelled flights home and would physically block the door.
“He used deceit and lies and vindictiveness to torture the young women he caught in his snare,” Green said.
“And we believe that he will continue to look for the opportunity to victimise more women and more people for his own financial gain."
GirlsDoPorn would tell the women the videos were for private clients overseas and that they would not be shared publicly. Pratt and his partners allegedly hired other women to reassure the victims the videos would not be posted online.
The videos were uploaded to the GirlsDoPorn page on Pornhub, the world's largest pornography website, where they would be exposed to the page's 780,000 subscribers.
Users were able to download the sometimes violent abuse videos freely, meaning that the women would never be able to escape the trauma of being in that position.
According to court documents, one victim was under the age of 18 when she was allegedly coerced by Pratt.
Between 2012 and 2019 Pratt made tens of millions of dollars through his pornography websites.
The women begged Pratt, his associates and Pornhub to remove the videos in 2011 and it took until 2019 for action to be taken.
The owners of the page, including Pratt, were charged with sex trafficking and the production of child sexual abuse material in 2019.
“The defendant lied and tricked these women, made millions along the way, and left his co-conspirators to face justice while he fled,” said Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner.
The FBI has said they hope Pratt’s promotion to the most wanted list will give those who know his location the proper motivation to come forward with information.
“We feel that there are people out there who have been helping Michael Pratt to hide,” Green said.
“He has probably promised them the world—giving them money, buying them gifts in return for providing him a safe haven."
The reward for information has doubled from US$50,000 ($82,569 NZD) to US$100,000 ($165,137 NZD) in an effort to get more infomation.
The FBI is encouraging anyone who might be aiding Pratt to step forward to consider their own interests and the interests of the victims.
So far several other people have been sentenced to lengthy Prison sentences for their involvement.
Ruben Garcia, a San Deigo man who was one of the recruiters for GirlsDoPorn, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his role in the conspiracy.
The website's co-owner, Matthew Wolfe, alongside its bookkeeper and cameraman both pled guilty to sex trafficking charges and are set to be sentenced later this year.
Currently, the victims are suing Pornhub for their role in facilitating the ongoing abuse. They are asking for US$100 million in damages for the suffering they have had to endure. One victim said she tried to commit suicide after a video of her was posted.
Pratt is said to be 97kgs, 1.82cm (6ft) tall and speaks with a New Zealand accent, he has brown hair and hazel eyes.
He has the means to travel and the FBI says he could be in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, Chile, Croatia, or France.
To provide a tip or information about the whereabouts of Michael James Pratt people are asked to contact the American Embassy or Consulate. You can also call 1-800-CALL-FBI (US phone number) or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
SHARE ME