SAN DIEGO (TCN) —Â The “mastermind of the sprawling GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking empire” will spend almost three decades behind bars for luring women into porn and exploiting hundreds of victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced Sept. 8 that 42-year-old Michael Pratt was sentenced to 27 years in prison. He previously pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, as well as committing sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
According to federal prosecutors, Pratt and his co-conspirators posted “misleading modeling ads, preyed on vulnerable women, and promised their sex videos would never be seen online.” However, Pratt’s employees reportedly published the videos on websites and promoted them on free pornography platforms such as Pornhub.
Authorities said the victims were “coerced into finishing shoots under threats of lawsuits, canceled flights, and exposure.” The defendants would allegedly sometimes use camera equipment to block exits of hotel rooms to prevent the victims from leaving.
Per prosecutors, Pratt, who owned and operated GirlsDoPorn.com and GirlsDoToys.com, created his “empire” by using lies, coercion, and manipulation to lure victims before broadcasting their abuse to millions of viewers. Pratt’s videos were reportedly uploaded to websites that generated millions in revenue for the defendant.
Pratt was initially charged in 2019 but sold all his assets and left the United States. He was added to the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list, but authorities eventually arrested him in Spain in December 2022, and he was extradited to San Diego in 2024.
Forty victims spoke at Pratt’s hearing, detailing how they were “exploited, coerced, raped, abused, and trapped.” According to prosecutors, some of the victims spoke about the trauma they experienced and “the heavy burden of shame and fear they still carry.” Some allegedly explained that they underwent cosmetic surgery to change their appearance, while others altered their names.
Most of Pratt’s victims were reportedly 18 to 21 years old at the time.
According to federal prosecutors, one victim told Pratt, “I am not your victim. I’m your reckoning. I am the girl who took you down. Look around! We are an army of survivors sharing our truth, and we have won.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said another woman, who was 19 and worked as a children’s dance teacher but was fired, addressed Pratt and stated, “You are evil. You are a predator. You are a rapist. This is who you are. Your ego was too big to believe you’d ever get caught, but karma comes around. It is your turn now to suffer.”
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said, “Pratt was a calculating and cruel predator. He lured young victims, caused others to abuse them on video, and then taunted them for years as they sought to reclaim their names. Afterwards these victims suffered each day the cruelty of the internet and social media.”
Pratt received the longest sentence of all the conspirators. Ruben Andre Garcia received 20 years in June 2021. Theodore Gyi was sentenced to four years in prison in November 2022, while Matthew Wolfe was sentenced to 14 years in prison in March 2024. Valorie Moser, the office manager, will be sentenced on September 12.
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