GirlsDoPorn Co-Owner Pleads Guilty, Partner Still at Large

SAN DIEGO—GirlsDoPorn co-creator Matthew Wolfe on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, City News Service reports. Wolfe's plea leaves partner Michael Pratt, who has been on the run as a fugitive since trial proceedings against the company began in late summer 2019, as the only defendant yet to appear before a judge in the multi-level case. The federal charges against Wolfe, Pratt and several GirlsDoPorn employees were first brought in October 2019—in the midst of an already-underway civil trial against company principals by 22 Jane Does—and the case is believed to have been the first indictment obtained under the controversial SESTA/FOSTA act, signed into law by then President Donald Trump the year prior. Wolfe admitted in his Tuesday plea to taking part in what prosecutors described as a scheme to coerce women to appear in pornographic videos under the false pretense that the videos would only be distributed to private customers outside the U.S., and not posted online, despite always intending to release them via the internet. Co-defendant Ruben Andre Garcia, who worked for roughly six years as a recruiter and performer for GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to comparable charges, and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison. Videographer Theodore "Teddy" Gyi and administrative assistant Valorie Moser have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Wolfe is expected to be sentenced later this year by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino.  The civil trial, in which all of the above except Gyi were named, ended in January 2020 with Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright awarding the 22 Jane Does more than $12.7 million in compensatory damages. Then in December 2021, District Judge Sammartino ruled that all 402 women known to have shot videos for GirlsDoPorn should be awarded the rights to said videos and accompanying images. In addition, Sammartino granted restitution in the amount of $907,000 to 23 of Garcia's victims for medical and mental health care, along with other expenses. As of last October, the FBI was offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Michael Pratt.