The imprisoned owner of GirlsDoPorn.com was ordered by a judge this week to pay nearly $76 million in restitution to the sex trafficking scheme’s victims.
The restitution order from U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino requires Michael James Pratt to compensate women prosecutors say were coerced and tricked into appearing in online pornographic videos.
Hundreds of victims were assured their videos would be distributed only to private customers on DVDs or other physical platforms, though the goal was always to post the videos onto the internet.
Pratt was sentenced last year to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. The final defendant was sentenced last month.
Sammartino’s order states that Pratt will pay restitution jointly with his co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded guilty to federal charges and been sentenced to prison.
GirlsDoPorn.com is a defunct San Diego-based website that was the subject of a federal sex trafficking prosecution dating back to 2019. The site had been operational since 2012, according to the FBI and generated $17 million.
Pratt fled after being charged. The FBI said he had “ties to multiple countries and has the financial means to be anywhere around the world. He was arrested in Spain in 2022.
Most of the victims were 18-21 years old.
San Diego U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement that the restitution order “is a powerful acknowledgment of the lifelong harm inflicted on these women. While no amount of money would fully remedy what they endured, this order holds Pratt financially accountable for some part of the harm that he caused these victims.”
