A New Zealand man has pleaded guilty in a US court to conspiring to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion as part of a multi-million dollar online porn operation.
Matthew Isaac Wolfe, 40, pleaded guilty in San Diego, California last week to conspiring to fraudulently coerce young women to appear in porn on the GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys websites.
Wolfe, who is from Christchurch, is the fourth person to plead guilty in connection with the case, the US Department of Justice said. He admitted he moved to the United States in 2011 to work for his friend and co-defendant Michael Pratt, the owner of the GirlsDoPorn website. Pratt is also originally from Christchurch, and he and Wolfe had been friends since childhood.
Wolfe filmed approximately 100 videos, uploaded the completed videos online, oversaw the company's financial books, and operated various business entities that were used to promote GirlsDoPorn. He worked for this company from 2011 until his arrest in October 2019.
Wolfe admitted that to persuade the women to appear in the videos, he'd tell them they'd never be posted online, the videos wouldn't ever be released in the United States, and that no one who knew the women would ever find out about the videos. The Department of Justice said Wolfe knew these representations were false because the videos were exclusively marketed and distributed on the internet.
He also trained co-defendant Theodore Gyi, a camera operator, on how to run video shoots and told Gyi that, if asked, to tell the women that the videos wouldn't be posted on the internet.
Wolfe also admitted that he was aware that personal identifying information and social media accounts for some women were being posted on pornwikileaks.com, a site controlled by Pratt and dedicated to "exposing" the true identities of people appearing in porn videos, causing the victims to be subjected to severe harassment.
Even after Wolfe became aware of this, the Department of Justice said he and others continued to assure prospective models that no one would ever find out about their video shoot or learn their identity.
"This crime had a devastating impact on the victims," said US Attorney Randy Grossman.
"We will seek justice for human trafficking victims in hopes that it will help them reclaim their lives and leave the pain of this experience in the past."
Grossman commended the prosecution team as well as FBI agents and members of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force for their effort to investigate and prosecute this case.
"Wolfe lied to and preyed on vulnerable young women, subjecting them to years of relentless harassment, fear and mental anguish," said Stacey Moy, special agent in charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office.
"Identifying, investigating, and apprehending sex trafficking offenders is a critical part of our mission. We will continue to work with our partners every day to hold these perpetrators accountable for their crimes."
Wolfe is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Janis L Sammartino on October 10, 2022.
Pratt is currently a fugitive, according to the Department of Justice, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to US$50,000 (NZ$79,501) for information leading to his arrest. Anyone with information about him is urged to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.
