Porn Website Owner Faces Life Sentence After Sex Trafficking Guilty Plea
Michael James Pratt, owner of GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys, faces life in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking charges. Discover the shocking details of his criminal operation and its devastating impact on victims.
TL;DR
Michael James Pratt, the owner of pornographic websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges. He faces a minimum sentence of fifteen years and a maximum of life in prison. Pratt’s operation lured and coerced young women into performing in pornographic videos, generating over $17 million in revenue.
Main Content
Michael James Pratt, the owner of the pornographic websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges in a US court. Pratt’s criminal enterprise, which operated from 2013 to 2019, targeted young women across the US and Canada, luring them to San Diego under false pretenses.
Deceptive Recruitment Tactics
Pratt and his accomplices used online platforms, including Craigslist, to advertise modeling jobs. Many of these advertisements initially promoted clothed modeling positions. However, upon arrival, the women were coerced into performing in pornographic videos. Pratt and his team assured the victims that the videos would only be distributed to a small group of private collectors outside the US, ensuring that no one they knew would ever see them. Additionally, Pratt employed ‘reference girls’ to convince the victims, believing that peer testimony would be more persuasive.
Coercion and Exploitation
Once the victims arrived in San Diego, they were rushed into signing contracts without receiving copies. The shooting sessions, initially promised to be short, often lasted for hours. Pratt and his group bullied the victims into performing sex acts on camera, sometimes refusing to let them leave until the shoots were completed. Threats included canceling their flights home or publishing the already filmed content if they did not comply1.
The operation generated over $17 million in revenue, with videos posted on the websites and promoted on Pornhub, often viewed millions of times. Despite a victim’s request to remove a video, Pratt did not respond.
Legal Consequences
Pratt was initially charged in a US court in 2019 but fled to Spain, eventually being extradited in 2022. He pleaded not guilty in March 2024 to 19 felony counts, including sex trafficking, production of child pornography, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The operation was ordered to pay $18 million to victims in 2021 after 22 women sued for damages. Other associates, including Matthew Wolfe, Theodore Gyi, Ruben Andre Garcia, and Valerie Moser, have also been prosecuted and sentenced.
Pratt will be sentenced on September 8, 2025, facing a minimum of fifteen years for sex trafficking and a maximum penalty of life in prison. Another count of sex trafficking conspiracy also carries a maximum life sentence.
Conclusion
The guilty plea of Michael James Pratt marks a significant milestone in the fight against sex trafficking and online exploitation. The devastating impact of his criminal operation highlights the need for vigilance and stronger legal measures to protect vulnerable individuals from such predatory practices. As the legal process continues, it is crucial to support the victims and work towards preventing similar crimes in the future.
Additional Resources
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References
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(2025). “GirlsDoPorn owner faces life in jail after pleading guilty to sex trafficking”. Malwarebytes Blog. Retrieved 2025-06-10. ↩︎