Millionaire pornographers charged with sex trafficking in California

San Diego, Calif., Oct 11, 2019 / 15:00 pm

The owners and two employees of two related pornography websites were charged in federal court with sex trafficking on Thursday, Oct. 10. 

Michael James Pratt, 36, Matthew Isaac Wolfe, 37, and Ruben Andre Garcia, 31, are all charged with "Sex Trafficing by Force, Fraud and Coercion," which carries a minimum of 15 years in prison and maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Pratt, Wolfe, Garcia, and a woman named Valorie Moser, 37, are additionally charged with "Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion," which also has a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Pratt and Wolfe are the owners of two pornographic websites, GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys. Garcia is described in the release as an "adult film performer and producer," and Moser is an administrative assistant. 

According to the release from the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, Garcia was arrested on Wednesday, Wolfe was placed into custody by immigration officials and transferred into federal custody on Tuesday, and Moser will be arranged on Friday. Pratt is described as a "fugitive" who is at large. On Wednesday, the FBI raided the websites' office in San Diego. 

The four are accused of placing ads for "modeling jobs" that would pay $5,000. In fact, the jobs were for pornographic films. The complaint alleges that Pratt, Wolfe, Garcia, and Moser told the women they could remain anonymous and that their videos would not be shared online. The charges allege that this was not true, and that the videos were made exclusively for the internet. 

Financial records show that the two websites earned more than $17 million for Pratt and Wolfe. 

The complaint alleges that instead of a modeling job, women were "pressured" into signing documents they were not given the chance to read thoroughly, and were threatened with legal action or "outing" if they did not "perform" in a video. Others alleged victims say they were not allowed to leave the location of the shoot until a video was complete, and that their families and friends saw their videos online, which resulted in harassment and estrangement from their families. 

The complaint also says that at least one performer was raped during a shoot, and others were sexually assaulted. The complaint states that performers would be forced to perform things they did not want to, or else they would not receive payment for their work or be allowed to leave. 

The FBI in San Diego is requesting that any additional victims come forward and share their experiences. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes pornography as a "grave offense."

It "offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other" and does "grave injury to the dignity of its participants," the Church teaches.

"Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials," the Catechism says.