Pornhub ADMITS they profit from sex trafficking, forced to pay MILLIONS to United States, victims

The adult entertainment giant subsequently entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that will force them to pay millions to the United States, as well as victims who were trafficked, according to the Department of Justice.

According to the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, in 2009 Aylo began hosting videos created by a production company called GirlsDoPorn. Ten years later, a federal grand jury in California indicted GDP and its founder, Michael Pratt, for sex trafficking, as well as deceiving and coercing young women to take part in pornographic videos which the GDP then posted without their consent.

Between 2017 and 2019, Aylo received money from GDP's operations despite knowing that the production company was embroiled in legal troubles related to sex trafficking.

In 2019, Aylo finally removed GDP's channel from its websites, however no steps were taken to ensure any non-official content created by GDP was wiped.

"Motivated by profit, Aylo Holdings knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye to the concerns of victims who communicated to the company that they were deceived and coerced into participating in illicit sexual activity," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge James Smith said. "Make no mistake, any entity that engages in sexual exploitation will be held to account for the mental anguish and terror imposed on victims. I hope today’s proceedings bring a sense of justice to the victims in this case as they move forward in their lives."

The deferred prosecution agreement holds Aylo accountable for hosting the aforementioned videos and "accepting payments from criminal actors."

"It is our hope that this resolution, which includes certain agreed payments to the women whose images were posted on the company’s platforms and an independent monitorship brings some measure of closure to those negatively affected," US Attorney Breon Peace said. "This resolution will not only provide oversight over one of the largest online content distributors in the world and ensure the company's lawful behavior, but it will also develop industry-wide standards for safety and compliance."

Under the terms of the agreement, Aylo must pay $1,844,952.83 to the US, and provide "monetary payments to victims of the GDP Operators who have not otherwise already received compensation, and whose images were posted on Aylo's platforms."

For the next three years, the company will also be subject to an independent monitor, who will assess its compliance with the agreement.