A lawsuit was filed this week on behalf of 61 women against Pornhub's parent company for allegedly hosting videos produced by former San Diego-based website GirlsDoPorn.com, the owners and operators of which were charged by federal prosecutors with sex trafficking.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in San Diego federal court against Aylo Media S.A.R.L., formerly known as MindGeek.
The company previously settled a separate lawsuit filed in San Diego on behalf of 50 women who similarly alleged the company operates a multitude of pornographic sites that have hosted videos featuring the women, and maintained its business relationship with GirlsDoPorn even as the site came under scrutiny for allegations of videos made through coercion and fraud.
According to the complaint filed on behalf of Jane Doe No. 60 through Jane Doe No. 121, Aylo received "hundreds, if not thousands, of notices" over the years from women who claimed their videos were being published on Aylo's websites without their consent, yet did not investigate those complaints.
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More from the GirlsDoPorn case
The lawsuit alleges Aylo continued to do business with GirlsDoPorn amid another lawsuit filed in San Diego by 22 women, who alleged they were coerced to film pornographic videos or led to believe their videos would only be distributed on DVDs to private owners, rather than proliferated online. A judge awarded the women nearly $13 million at the conclusion of a trial.
The new lawsuit alleges the company's business partnership with GirlsDoPorn only ended because GirlsDoPorn ceased to exist amid a Department of Justice sex trafficking investigation.
"Following the FBI's takedown of the GirlsDoPorn operators and business and filing of criminal charges, Aylo finally removed GirlsDoPorn's videos from its websites. But this was too little too late," the complaint states.
Several people associated with GirlsDoPorn were charged by the local U.S. Attorney's Office and most have pleaded guilty to various charges.
Among them, producer and porn actor Ruben Andre Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while website operator Matthew Isaac Wolfe pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking count and is slated for sentencing in January.
The website's founder, Michael James Pratt, was arrested in Spain last year after more than three years on the lam and awaits extradition to San Diego.
