The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) determined that the rights to all content related to the sex trafficking case on the adult platforms GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys must be granted to the hundreds of victims who appear in the images and videos posted on these platforms.
Judge Janice Sammartino issued the ruling as part of the trial against Ruben Andre Garcia, a porn actor and film producer sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Together with the owners of these websites, García allegedly deceived, forced and extorted dozens of women to generate pornographic content.
In addition to recognizing the victims as the rightful owners of the videos and images on these platforms, the court ordered the defendants to pay about $18 million USD to the victims as restitution. In other words, García and his accomplices were prohibited from using or exploiting any content on these platforms, in addition to annulling any agreement related to this material and recognizing the right and best interest for the affected models.
Court documents add that Garcia admitted to acting in conjunction with his accomplices to recruit young girls in search of careers in modeling or acting, leading them to engage in sexual acts using force, blackmail and misleading claims.
“Garcia assured victims that these videos would never be posted online, plus they would be sold privately to customers outside the United States and that no one close to the victims would ever learn of this, which the defendants knew was false in advance,” the court reports state.
This illegally obtained material was posted on the aforementioned websites, which charged high monthly fees to their customers to access Premium content. Authorities estimate that this content generated at least $17 million in revenue to these websites.
In addition to this resolution, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a reward of up to $50,000 USD to anyone who provides information leading to the whereabouts of Michael James Pratt, identified as another major operator of this sex trafficking ring. The Agency obtained an arrest warrant against him in 2019, although the defendant had been on the run for some time.
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