GirlsDoPorn Owner Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges, Could Face Life in Prison

Michael James Pratt, owner of the defunct American adult website GirlsDoPorn, has pleaded guilty to two sex trafficking charges that could result in life in prison.

The Details: Pratt, a citizen of New Zealand, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and conspiracy to commit the same crime. He admitted in his plea agreement that between 2012 and 2019, he conspired to traffic 15 women, though officials have said the real number of victims is likely much higher. US District Judge Janis Sammartino has scheduled his sentencing for September.

The Scheme: The New York Post (Lean Right bias) wrote that Pratt and his employees “would lure the women under the pretense of a modeling gig” before getting them to make sex videos and “threaten to sue the women, cancel their flights home or post the videos online” if they wanted to stop. 

For Context: GirlsDoPorn was one of the most popular adult film studios of the 2010s before being shut down in January 2020 after Pratt and five co-conspirators were charged criminally, and 22 victims won a civil suit against it. Pratt fled the US in 2019 and was placed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list before being captured in Spain in December 2022.

How The Media Covered It: The story was covered mostly by the left. Associated Press (Left), CBS News (Lean Left), Los Angeles Times (Lean Left), NBC 7 San Diego (Lean Left), and The San Diego Union-Tribune (Lean Left) authored original coverage. The Independent (Lean Left), Washington Post (Lean Left), U.S. News & World Report (Lean Left), SFGate (Lean Left), and others republished AP’s coverage. On the right, AllSides found original coverage from The New York Post, National Pulse (Right), and Epoch Times (Lean Right). The Post opened its coverage by writing, “PervsDoPrison.” CBS News and UPI (Center) described Pratt as a “mastermind.”

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