Michael James Pratt

Michael James Pratt, 40, was arrested Wednesday by Spanish National Police in Madrid, according to a statement from the FBI.

When it was revealed that the job involved filming adult videos, the victims were led to believe the videos they appeared in would be distributed only to private customers living outside of the country, rather than proliferated online, according to the U.S. One of the defendants, porn actor and producer Ruben Andre Garcia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while videographer Theodore Gyi borders — you can run but you can’t hide,” said Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego Field Office. The New Zealand native is charged in a 19-count indictment for allegedly running the now-defunct website. Prosecutors allege the website’s owners and operators lured unsuspecting young women, and at least one underage girl, with advertisements for clothed modeling gigs. Michael James Pratt, 40, was arrested Wednesday by Spanish National Police in Madrid, according to a statement from the FBI.

A San Diego fugitive who was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list three months ago has been found in Spain, according to the Federal Bureau of ...

Michael James Pratt had been on the run from charges ranging from sex trafficking to child pornography.

In July this year, Matthew Isaac Wolfe pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking for his involvement in the GirlsDoPorn scheme. “Michael James Pratt preyed on young women and girls and allegedly coerced or forced them through threats and fraud to participate in pornographic videos,” Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office added at the time. [Pratt was added](https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/michael-james-pratt/@@download.pdf) to the FBI’s list of its top 10 most wanted fugitives in September over his alleged involvement in sex trafficking and the production of child pornography. A federal arrest warrant for his arrest was issued in November 2019. Pratt allegedly employed other women to “act as references” and give victims “false assurances to the women that, if they filmed a pornographic video, the video would not be posted online.” Between 2012 and 2019, he and others allegedly ran a conspiracy that sought to recruit both young adult women and minors to take part in sex acts “by force, fraud and coercion,” according to the FBI.

Michael James Pratt has been on the run, evading sex trafficking charges that may land him in prison for life.

In that trial, a state judge [ruled](https://www.vice.com/en/article/v74my3/girls-do-porn-ruling) that Pratt and his co-conspirators owed those women $12.7 million in damages. “Michael James Pratt is a danger to society, regardless of where he is, and is likely still victimizing people while on the run with his continued lies and false promises.” According to [news outlet El Español](https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20221223/policia-detiene-hombres-buscados-mundo-oculto-madrid/728177251_0.html), Pratt was hiding in Madrid, and checked into a hotel in the center of the city on Wednesday using one of his many false identities. [in early 2020](https://www.vice.com/en/article/v74ekd/fugitive-girls-do-porn-owner-faces-extradition-and-a-new-lawsuit); he’d fled the US in 2019, during a civil trial where he and his associates were accused by 22 women of fraud and coercion. Pratt and his associates filmed hundreds of sex scenes with young women between 2012 and 2019, luring them to their San Diego-based shooting under the guise of “modeling” gigs and fast cash. Many of the women testified that they weren’t told until they arrived on location that it was a porn shoot; some said they were trapped in the rooms and brutally abused, portions of which were edited out of the final videos.

A New Zealand fugitive who is wanted on sex trafficking charges has been arrested in Spain, the FBI says. Michael James Pratt, from Christchurch, ...

He has been on the run since 2019 and authorities had offered US$100,000 for information on him. “They repeatedly assure the victims they will never publish the videos online and that the women will remain anonymous,” according to a civil claim which has subsequently been successful in the US courts. Michael James Pratt, from Christchurch, was arrested on Wednesday in Madrid.

Key points: NZ national Michael James Pratt had been sentenced to life in prison for child pornography, sexual exploitation and sexual assault in the United ...

Police said he was involved in the audiovisual production of pornography, recruiting underage girls and young women through deception between 2012 and 2019. Michael James Pratt, a New Zealand citizen, had been sentenced to life in prison for child pornography, sexual exploitation and sexual assault in the United States. - NZ national Michael James Pratt had been sentenced to life in prison for child pornography, sexual exploitation and sexual assault in the United States

Michael Pratt, who allegedly manipulated hundreds of young women into making sex tapes and then lied about not distributing them, was included on the FBI's ...

The website's co-owner, Matthew Isaac Wolfe, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion in July. Pratt fled the US in 2019 as a civil lawsuit against him and his business partners was underway in San Diego. Several of Pratt's business partners and employees have pleaded guilty to sex crime charges. However, Girls Do Porn distributed the videos after they were shot, and they appeared on popular porn websites. Investigators said they lied to the women, saying that the videos would not be widely disseminated because they were for a private collector overseas and they would remain anonymous. Pratt victimized hundreds of young women, federal prosecutors said, including at least one girl under the age of 18.

Michael James Pratt was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Spanish National Police arrested him Wednesday in Madrid, the FBI's San Diego field office said ...

Some said they were sexually assaulted and held in hotel rooms unwillingly until adult filming had ended. Pratt, 40, founded the now-defunct GirlsDoPorn website in San Diego. Michael James Pratt was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.