NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Kiwi porn boss charged in US will face extradition if in NZ

By Susan Strongman
RNZ·
8 Jan, 2020 08:31 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Michael Pratt operated the Girls Do Porn adult video service. Photo / File

Michael Pratt operated the Girls Do Porn adult video service. Photo / File

By RNZ

A California prosecutor says the United States government will seek to extradite a New Zealand man charged with child sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, if he is found to be in the country.

Michael James Pratt, 36, is accused of the crimes which are linked to the operation of a porn website owned by the Christchurch man.

READ MORE:
• Kiwi porn boss Michael Pratt remains on the run from trafficking charges in the US
• NZ porn boss Michael Pratt, of Girls Do Porn, on run from US Department of Justice
• More details emerge on claims against Kiwi porn boss Michael Pratt
• New Zealander Michael Pratt accused of conning women into porn videos

He is currently "a fugitive" and is believed to have left the US, where he had lived since 2007, after being indicted with criminal charges in October last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Associate US Attorney Alexandra Foster said New Zealand police have been co-operating with the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but she would not say whether they believed Pratt was in New Zealand.

Foster did say extradition would be sought if he was found to be in the country.

"We would like to get out his likeness as broadly as we can in the hopes that somebody will tell us whether they've seen Mr Pratt recently."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealand police would not answer questions about the case.

Pratt and his associate 37-year-old Matthew Isaac Wolfe, also a New Zealander, are accused of coercing young women from the United States and Canada to appear in sex videos as part of a multi-million dollar online porn operation.

Michael James Pratt  has been charged by the FBI with sex trafficking. Photo / File
Michael James Pratt has been charged by the FBI with sex trafficking. Photo / File

The women were falsely promised up to $10,000 to appear in the videos and were told they would be sent only to private collectors.

But authorities say the videos were in fact distributed online, garnering thousands of views - many from within the women's communities, universities, places of employment and in some cases families.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Gore woman looking for love used as 'money mule' by international crime syndicate

08 Jan 09:35 PM
Lifestyle

Deaf man sues Pornhub over lack of closed captioning

17 Jan 01:33 AM

According to financial records, the websites owned by Pratt have generated more than $25 million in revenue.

According to the US justice department, some of the young women were pressured into signing confusing contracts without reviewing them and were 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.

Prosecutor Alexandra Foster says many of the women's lives have been "completely upended" as a result of their involvement with Pratt's operation.

"Peoples family and friends left them, they had to leave college, they chose different life careers, they've shut down all of their social media, people have tried to change how they look, tried to change their names, a lot of them have considered suicide."

Foster said the FBI had been contacted by more victims of the operation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A parallel civil case has seen Pratt and Wolfe ordered to pay $19 million in damages to 22 women.

The women's lawyer, Ed Chapin, said the women were happy with the decision by a San Diego judge.

"Their stories were believed in the face of tremendous opposition efforts to try to discredit them."

Defence lawyers Aaron Sadock and Daniel Kaplan said they would likely object to the civil court's decision.

But they said their clients were focused on defending themselves against the criminal charges.

"The tentative ruling does not affect the criminal case. The government's burden of proof in the criminal case is 'beyond a reasonable doubt,' which is much higher standard than in this civil lawsuit where the burden of proof is a mere preponderance of the evidence.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The findings of fact in the civil case do not carry over to the criminal case where the government will have to prove the facts under a much more stringent standard," the defence lawyers said in a statement. "

They did not know Pratt's location. Wolfe is currently in prison in San Diego.

- RNZ

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Aged care facility trials reusable underwear to reduce 4000kg of waste

12 May 11:58 PM
Politics

Police Minister accepts McSkimming resignation could impact public confidence

12 May 11:49 PM
Crime

Seven years after teen's murder, 16yo kidnap participant named

12 May 11:13 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

‘Lies’: Luxon on attack as Hipkins claims PM ‘taking money out of women’s pay packets’

‘Lies’: Luxon on attack as Hipkins claims PM ‘taking money out of women’s pay packets’

13 May 12:03 AM

The Labour leader denied he's scaremongering.

Aged care facility trials reusable underwear to reduce 4000kg of waste

Aged care facility trials reusable underwear to reduce 4000kg of waste

12 May 11:58 PM
Police Minister accepts McSkimming resignation could impact public confidence

Police Minister accepts McSkimming resignation could impact public confidence

12 May 11:49 PM
Seven years after teen's murder, 16yo kidnap participant named

Seven years after teen's murder, 16yo kidnap participant named

12 May 11:13 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP