A California judge on Thursday ordered the operators of a popular porn site to pay $13 million to 22 young women whom they deceived and intimidated into performing in pornographic videos.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright found clear and convincing evidence that the site's owner, Michael Pratt, and his two-co-defendants engaged in malice, oppression, or fraud in each case. The judge's ruling stretched a full 187 pages in order to outline the full mistreatment and exploitation of the women.

The operators of the porn site (Disrn will not name the site) actively recruited young women by running advertisements for clothed modeling jobs on Craigslist and elsewhere.

Once a woman responded, she was told that the job was actually a pornographic video which could earn her $5,000 or more for a single day.

The victims were then promised that their video would never appear on the internet — that the footage would be burned to DVDs for private collectors in Australia and New Zealand.

Site operators paid other women to pose as former performers and assure the victims that everything would be just as they were told, and the videos would never be released publicly.

Once a woman agreed, she would be flown to San Diego for the shoot, where she would be plied with alcohol and drugs before being rushed through contract signings.

Ars Technica reports:

Once a woman arrived in San Diego, the [website] crew's tactics shifted from fraud to intimidation. Women were picked up at the airport by a [website] staffer and chaperoned throughout their visit. During shooting, they were alone with two or more men they didn't know. The men would become agitated if the women didn't cooperate; some women testified that they feared for their safety. Women testified that men stacked equipment in front of the door to prevent them from leaving the room.



Most of the women had flown to San Diego from out of town, and many lacked funds to rent a hotel or book a flight home. They were also loath to call for help, since they'd have to admit why they'd traveled to San Diego in the first place. As a result, several women felt they had little choice but to complete the shoot.

If a victim decided to refuse to go through with the shoot, the website operators would demand money back for travel and hotels, which the young women likely did not have, and the victim would be obligated to fund her own trip home.

After the women agreed and shot the videos, not only were the clips released on the internet for all to see, the operators of the site actually disseminated the real-life identities of the women online. They would then block the victims' phone numbers and cut off all communication.

Judge Enright said in his ruling:

"Defendants' tactics have caused the videos to become common knowledge in plaintiffs' communities and among their relations and peers – the very thing that plaintiffs feared and that defendants expressly assured them would not happen. As a result, plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer far-reaching and often tragic consequences.



Collectively, they have experienced severe harassment, emotional and psychological trauma, and reputational harm; lost jobs, academic and professional opportunities, and family and personal relationships; and had their lives derailed and uprooted. They have become pariahs in their communities. Several plaintiffs have become suicidal."

The judge awarded each woman $300,000 to $550,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $150,000 in punitive damages. In total, the defendants collectively owe the women $12.8 million.