Pornhub owner agrees to pay $1.8M and independent monitor to resolve sex trafficking-related charge

NEW YORK — The owner of Pornhub, one of the world's largest adult content websites, has admitted profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to make payments to women whose videos were posted without their consent, federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday.

Aylo Holdings, the website's parent company, has reached a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve a charge of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, according to the office of Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The deal calls for the Montreal-based company to pay more than $1.8 million to the U.S. government, as well as make separate payments to the individual women harmed by human trafficking. It also requires the appointment of an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dismissed.

“It is our hope that this resolution, which includes certain agreed-upon payments to the women whose images were posted on the company's platforms and an independent monitor, will bring some measure of closure to those who have been negatively affected,” Peace said in a statement. the explanation.

James Smith, head of the FBI's New York office, said Aylo Holdings “knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye” to victims who told the company they had been deceived and coerced into the videos.

The charges stemmed from Aylo's role in hosting videos and accepting payments from GirlsDoPorn.

Operators of that now-defunct adult film production company were charged and ultimately convicted of a series of sex trafficking crimes, including forcing young women to perform sex acts on camera that were then posted without their consent on Pornhub and other sites for adults were placed.

Prosecutors say that between 2017 and 2020, Aylo received money that company officials knew or should have known came from GirlsDoPorn's sex trafficking business.

They also say the company did not act quickly or thoroughly enough to remove all non-consensual videos, even after a number of women appealed directly to the company.

Aylo operates free and paid adult websites where content providers can post and distribute adult videos, with Aylo generating revenue through licensing agreements, advertising and subscriptions.

According to prosecutors, the company received more than $100,000 from GirlsDoPorn between 2017 and 2020, as well as approximately $764,000 in payments from advertisers attributable to the production company.

Aylo Holdings, formerly known as MindGeek, said in a statement that it “deeply regrets” hosting GirlsDoPorn content on its streaming video platforms.

Aylo said GirlsDoPorn provided written consent forms supposedly signed by women in their videos, but was unaware that they were obtained through fraud and coercion.

The company also said prosecutors have not found that Aylo or its subsidiaries violated federal criminal laws prohibiting sex trafficking or the sexual exploitation of minors.

“Aylo pleads not guilty to any crime, and the government has agreed to drop charges against the company after three years, provided the company continues to comply with the deferred prosecution agreement,” the company said.

The agreement filed Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn comes after the European Union announced Wednesday that Pornhub and two other major porn sites would be required to verify the ages of their users, expanding the reach of the Digital Services Act, which is designed to keep people safe on the internet, is being increased. internet.

___

Follow Philip Marcelo on twitter.com/philmarcelo.