The FBI is offering a reward for tips that lead to Michael James Pratt’s arrest.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a hefty reward for tips that lead to the arrest of the owner of a San Diego-based porn website, Girls Do Porn, who is accused of producing child pornography and the sex trafficking of a minor.
Michael Pratt, 37, is wanted under a federal arrest warrant issued on Nov. 6, 2019, in U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, after he reportedly fled San Diego for New Zealand.
Pratt's whereabouts are unknown, but the FBI believes he has reason to visit New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, Chile, Croatia and France. The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who provides tips that lead to his arrest.
A federal indictment filed on Nov. 6, 2019, said Pratt and five others coerced female victims -- some as young as 17 -- to fly to San Diego to star in pornographic videos.
Pratt pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; production of child pornography; sex trafficking of a minor and by force, fraud and coercion; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and criminal forfeiture.
According to the FBI, Pratt and his co-conspirators posted advertisements for clothed modeling jobs on the Internet and when young women responded, told them they would be paid between $3,000 to $5,000 for a video shoot.
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"To persuade the women to participate, Pratt and his co-conspirators allegedly convinced the women they would remain anonymous, that their videos would be provided to private collectors on DVD and would not be posted on the Internet," the FBI said on a wanted poster with Pratt's photograph at the top.
Pratt is also accused of enlisting other women to convince hesitant girls that the videos would not be posted online.
In June 2016, 22 women filed a lawsuit against the men and the website, alleging that the men lured them to San Diego with promises of fast cash under the guise that the videos would never appear online and would only be sold to private collectors in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.
At the time, an attorney representing Girls Do Porn in the civil case told a judge there was “overwhelming evidence” that all of the clients featured in videos were adults who chose to work with a legitimate business.
Just before Pratt was set to testify, he went missing. His attorney at the time, Daniel Kaplan, dismissed any notion that his client intentionally fled the country.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with the trial,” Kaplan said outside the courtroom. “The trial date was uncertain for a number of months, and the case has been going on for three years. People still have their lives to lead, including the defendants.”
