Convicted porn producer calls porn industry ‘evil business,’ receives 20-year sentence
A porn actor and producer who lied to and coerced young women to perform sex videos for San Diego-based websites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys received a 20-year sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Ruben Andre Garcia admitted in December that he worked with the owners of porn sites GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys to fraudulently coerce young women from the United States and Canada to film explicit videos.
Garcia and his co-defendants promised the girls he coerced that the videos would never be public and only sent to private customers outside the U.S. But the videos were posted to GirlsDoPorn, GirlsDoToys and PornHub, some of which received millions of views on some of the most heavily trafficked porn sites.
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As many as 20 victims testified during a sentencing hearing, and some said that Garcia sexually assaulted them, according to The Times of San Diego.
Some victims told Judge Janis Sammartino that the videos continue to plague them by destroying family relationships and job prospects. Some women even attempted suicide after the videos’ release and still seek therapy.
“I’ve been doing this a very long time, and I can tell you I haven’t had a case like this,” Sammartino said during the hearing, according to Courthouse News Service.
“I spent most of my time this morning listening to people who were victims in this offense. You were treated in the poorest of ways, you were disregarded, treated as disposable commodities in someone’s quest for money. The only thing I can come up with is a greed motive."
Garcia offered a short apology and acknowledged the porn industry is an “evil business.” The hearing marked the first time that he addressed the accusations.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to you — to the victims and the families — I was deceitful,” Garcia was quoted as saying. “I accept responsibility for my actions.”
Garcia worked for the websites from 2013 to 2019 as a recruiter and adult film performer. The websites generated millions of dollars in revenue, and the films received millions of views.
The victims were forced into video shoots that lasted hours and often led to pain and bleeding. They were sometimes barricaded or trapped in a room and were sometimes threatened to force them to complete the hours-long filming.
Once women discovered their videos were posted, the website owners ignored their requests to remove the videos.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a leading organization that seeks a world free from sexual abuse by exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation and the public health harms of pornography, is “grateful that survivors have received a measure of justice” through Garcia’s sentencing.
“We hope that this sentence brings a measure of justice for those who were sex trafficked by Andre Garcia and GirlsDoPorn and who courageously fought for this legal victory,” said NCOSE General Counsel Benjamin Bull in a statement. “This reprehensible crime shows the horrible reality of the pornography industry, which is rife with abuse and coercion… .”
“This legal victory also strikes at the heart of the pornography industry’s claim that ‘verified’ content is safe and has the consent of the performers,” Bull continued. “GirlsDoPorn content was promoted as a ‘verified’ partner of Pornhub, but the harrowing testimony from these GirlsDoPorn survivors and their mounting legal victories prove that the pornography industry is not and cannot ever be safe. The pornography industry is a predatory and exploitative business.”
Garcia’s co-defendants who worked for GirlsDoPorn have pleaded guilty and await their sentencing, according to The Times of San Diego.
Twenty-two survivors of GirlsDoPorn’s sexual abuse and exploitation were awarded $12.7 million in January 2020 as part of a civil lawsuit, NCOSE reported.
Over 40 GirlsDoPorn survivors have since filed a lawsuit against Pornhub for refusing to remove their coerced videos.
In a statement shared in December after Garcia admitted his guilt, FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said that the "The FBI is committed to investigating those who prey upon trusting women and girls, causing pain and humiliation for their own personal gain." She called Garcia's guilty plea a "small victory in the ongoing battle with those who commit sex trafficking.”
Emily Wood is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
