StraightBoyz Owner Deneumostier Pleads 'Not Guilty'

LOS ANGELES—Bryan Deneumostier, the owner of the now defunct StraightBoyz gay porn site accused of taping himself having sex with unsuspecting straight men for profit, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Miami federal court. Deneumostier will remain in jail until trial, according to the Miami Herald. He was arrested last week in Miami on an indictment for allegedly posting illicit porn videos shot without victims’ consent as well as violations of the 2257 federal record-keeping law. Federal agents charged the Homestead, Fla., resident with five counts related to the operation of StraightBoyz, which promised gay men videos of straight men being tricked into sex acts—all while blindfolded or wearing blacked-out goggles. The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Miami Field Office, which released the following statement about the arrest, saying that Deneumostier “surreptitiously produced pornographic audio and video recordings of himself engaging in sexual activity with multiple men and then caused the videos to be posted on one or more subscription-based pornography websites without their knowledge or consent.” The statement continued, “Bryan Deneumostier, 32, also known by the screen name 'susanleon33326,' was charged in a five-count indictment in the Southern District of Florida with two counts of illegal interception of oral communications and three counts of record keeping violations. “The indictment, which was unsealed July 18, references three victims whose identities are being withheld to protect their privacy. Without two of the referenced victims’ knowledge or consent, Deneumostier allegedly recorded his sexual encounters with them, and then caused these videos to be posted on one or more websites. These two allegedly non-consensual recordings form the basis of the surreptitious-recording charges. The indictment further alleges that Deneumostier was a producer of pornography, used performers portrayed in a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, and did not ascertain the performers’ identification or age, as required by federal law.” The case marks only the second time a porn producer has been charged with 2257 violations—Joe Francis, the founder of Girls Gone Wild, faced multiple legal actions in the mid-2000s and early 2010s, pleading guilty in one high-profile case in 2006. The 2257 law is intended to protect minors by requiring producers to create and maintain age and identity records for every performer in sexually explicit media. Francis in 2006 pled guilty to charges his company Mantra Films Inc. filmed two 17-year-olds in one of his explicit videos shot during Spring Break of 2003. He was sentenced to community service and his company agreed to pay $1.6 million in damages. Prosecutors in the StraightBoyz case claim Deneumostier duped men into believing they were going to a South Miami-Dade house for a casual encounter with a housewife—who was actually Deneumostier in cross-dressing attire. Investigators say Deneumostier ran the site—which featured more than 600 videos—for at least four years, according to the Miami Herald. While StraightBoyz is no longer operating, many of the videos are still viewable on other adult websites.  According to the Herald, agents believe Deneumostier solicited men in a series of Craigslist ads.