The GirlsDoPorn civil trial has concluded after four months and the producers were found liable of fraud and breach of contract. The models were awarded an eye-popping $9.45 million dollars as compensatory damages and an additional $3.3 million in punitive damages. In a nutshell, the models claimed the producers promised them the content would not “be seen by anyone who might know them.” Instead, the videos were promptly uploaded to website for members to download and view. Ownership rights also reverted by the models and Girls Do Porn was ordered to remove the footage.
When it rains, it pours. The owners are now also facing Federal Sex Trafficking charges by Force, Fraud and Coercion and could be sentenced to life in prison and fined $250,000. The allegations are described in a recent DOJ press release:
“According to the complaint, the circumstances [of the shoots] were not at all what was promised. Some of the women were pressured into signing documents without reviewing them and then threatened with legal action or outing if they failed to perform; some were not permitted to leave the shooting locations until the videos were made; family and friends and the general public eventually saw the videos online; some victims were harassed and ridiculed and estranged from their families as a result; and some were sexually assaulted and in at least one case raped. Some were forced to perform certain sex acts they had declined to do, or they would not be paid or allowed to leave.”
Clearly, this seems to be the end of the road for GirlsDoPorn.
Source: ABC News Women win $13M in lawsuit against porn site in California