GirlsDoPorn owner hit with child porn charges, Ars Technica

        

Michael Pratt, the principal owner of the GirlsDoPorn website, is alreadyfacing criminal chargesfor sex trafficking involving adult women. A new indictment, unsealed Thursday, hasadded child pornography charges.

For years, Pratt has been recruiting young women to San Diego to shoot pornographic videos. Dozens of women say that Pratt and his colleagues lied to them and used physical coercion to induce them to participate — claims that led tofederal sex trafficking chargeslast month.

Now prosecutors say that Pratt flew a 16 – year-old girl to Southern California to have sex on camera. That would be a violation of federal laws against production of child pornography as well as sex trafficking of minors.

It’s not clear if Pratt will ultimately stand trial for his alleged crimes. Pratt, a New Zealand native, reportedlyleft the United Statesin September in the midst of a long-running civil trial that is still ongoing.

Criminal charges were filed against Pratt and three others in October. Two of Pratt’s co-defendants are now in federal custody, while a third is out on bail. But Pratt is believed to be in New Zealand.

Courthouse News reportsthat the new indictment was unsealed at “a hearing attended by Pratt’s co-defendants, GirlsDoPorn videographer Matthew Wolfe, actor Andre Garcia, and administrative assistant Valorie Moser. ” The judge entered a not guilty plea for the trio.