The FBI is hunting a New Zealand fugitive and pornographic website owner accused of deceiving more than 20 young women to travel to southern California to perform in sex videos.
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Michael James Pratt, 36, allegedly came up with the idea of creating the website GirlsDoPorn while living in Brisbane in 2006 and launched it in 2009 after moving to the US.
US prosecutors, citing financial records, allege the website and another, GirlsDoToys, generated more than $US17 million ($A24.5 million) in revenue.
The human cost, according to the women, was tragic with some contemplating suicide after their videos appeared online and boyfriends, family, work colleagues and others in their communities viewed them.
Authorities claimed Pratt, his New Zealand business partner and childhood friend Matthew Isaac Wolfe, 37, and "casting director" and "adult film performer" Ruben Andre Garcia, 31, used deception and false promises to lure the alleged victims.
The women allegedly responded to Craigslist ads seeking clothed models and payment of around $US5000, but eventually were told the job was for adult films.
Authorities said the defendants convinced the women their videos would not be posted online, with some told they were for a private collector in Australia.
The videos were posted online and some viewed millions of times.
The women fought back, with 22 filing a civil lawsuit and after a 99-day trial in San Diego Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright last week tentatively ordered Pratt, Wolfe and Garcia pay the women $US12.7 million.
US federal prosecutors have also launched a criminal sex trafficking case that could lead to life prison sentences for the three men.
Wolfe and Garcia were arrested in California in October. Pratt disappeared.
"Defendant Michael James Pratt is still a fugitive," an FBI spokeswoman told AAP on Tuesday.
"Anyone with information regarding Pratt's whereabouts should contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI."
Pratt testified at the civil trial by deposition while Wolfe appeared in court.
Judge Enright said Pratt "fled the country, ignoring a properly served notice to appear and an arrest warrant issued by this court".
One woman, dubbed Jane Doe 1 in the civil lawsuit, told how she was studying law at a US university, needed money to cover expenses, applied for modelling jobs on Craigslist and received an email from Garcia, who went by the name "Jonathan".
"Over the phone, Jonathan told Jane Doe 1 that the video 'was just for this one guy in Australia on one DVD that couldn't be copied'," the judge wrote in his decision.
Jane Doe I learned her videos were online in October 2015 when she received a call from her boyfriend, followed by a link.
Students, professors and deans at her law school received calls and emails referencing or containing links to the video, the court heard.
Lawyers representing Pratt, Wolfe and Garcia said they were weighing their clients' options, which included filing objections to Judge Enright's tentative statement of decision and an appeal if the decision became final.
The defendants were also focused on fighting the criminal sex trafficking charges which carry maximum life prison sentences.
"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," the defendant's lawyers, Daniel Kaplan and Aaron Sadock, said.
Australian Associated Press
