The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of a New Zealand man who allegedly coerced young women into filming sexually explicit videos.

Michael James Pratt and co-conspirators allegedly used the internet to recruit young women for modeling jobs. The women who responded were later told the jobs were for sexually explicit videos. Investigators say the women were promised that the videos would not be posted online and that they would remain anonymous. In exchange, they would receive $3,000 to $5,000.

“We believe he is likely still victimizing others. And that’s why we feel it’s important to get him off the street.”

William McNamara, special agent, FBI San Diego

However, the videos were indeed posted online, and Pratt’s pornography websites made millions of dollars in revenue from them. His victims are believed to number in the hundreds.

“We believe he is likely still victimizing others. And that’s why we feel it’s important to get him off the street,” said Special Agent William McNamara of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office, which is investigating the case.

The charges against Pratt include the production of child pornography and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. Pratt’s co-conspirators have all been arrested or have appeared in court. Among those charged were the websites’ cameraman and bookkeeper, who each pleaded guilty to trafficking charges earlier this year. Pratt’s alleged co-owner, Matthew Isaac Wolfe, is awaiting trial in San Diego. In June, one of the websites’ lead recruiters and producers, Ruben Garcia, of San Diego, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the trafficking conspiracy.

For approximately seven years, between 2012 and 2019, Michael James Pratt and others allegedly participated in a conspiracy to recruit young adult and minor women to engage in commercial sex acts by force, fraud, and coercion. Pratt and a co-conspirator owned and operated a pornography production company and the online pornography websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys.

Pratt has ties to or may visit New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, Chile, Croatia, and France.