Women 'tricked into doing porn' awarded $12m by judge in California

'They have become pariahs in their communities. Several plaintiffs have become suicidal,' says judge

Judge Enright, who granted the women the damages, found evidence the defendants harassed some of the women who filed the lawsuit (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A judge in California has given a total of $12.7m (£9.7m) to 22 young women after ruling they were tricked into starring in online porn movies.

According to the judge's ruling, the videos produced by website GirlsDoPorn were uploaded to the internet despite the models being given assurances that they would not be.

In some cases, the videos led the victims - all aged 18 to 23 when the recordings happened - to being socially ostracised and becoming suicidal.

Ruling on Thursday regarding their 2016 lawsuit, San Diego Superior Court judge Kevin Enright said the women had replied to Craigslist ads seeking models and were then conned and coerced into performing porn.

The adverts allegedly did not make it clear the work would involve nudity or performing sex acts - with one ad reading: “Wanted: beautiful college type preppy girls” for video and photoshoots.

Local CBS affiliate CBS8 reported that the defendants, including GirlsDoPorn CEO Michael J Pratt and actor Andre Garcia, were facing federal sex trafficking charges, filed not long after the civil case. Garcia and others were in custody, while Pratt remained at large.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Enright wrote that the defendants’ "tactics have caused the videos to become common knowledge in plaintiffs’ communities and among their relations and peers – the very thing that plaintiffs feared and that defendants expressly assured them would not happen".

"As a result, plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer far-reaching and often tragic consequences,” he said in his ruling.

He added: “Collectively, they have experienced severe harassment, emotional and psychological trauma, and reputational harm; lost jobs, academic and professional opportunities, and family and personal relationships; and had their lives derailed and uprooted. They have become pariahs in their communities. Several plaintiffs have become suicidal.”

According to Courthouse News Service, the videos were shared on GirlsDoPorn’s subscription-based websites weeks after the shoots and footage was shared on Pornhub, one of the most viewed websites in the world.

During the recruiting process, the defendants paid women to act as “references”, pretending to be models from previous shoots and vouching for their privacy being protected.

Judge Enright, who granted the women between $250,000 and $500,000 each in damages, found evidence the defendants harassed some of the women who filed the lawsuit.

One of the women had a porn video she performed in sent to dozens of students, academics and other staff at her law school after she employed a lawyer to help her track down a copy of the documents she had signed, the judge wrote.

The defendants denied ever having sent the clip.

According to the Department of Justice, the website’s owners and two members of staff have been charged in federal court in relation to the claims. A third defendant, videographer Matthew Wolfe, was also named.