NEW ZEALAND — Associate U.S. Attorney Alexandra Foster has said the U.S. government will seek to extradite GirlsDoPorn founder Michael Pratt, 36, from his native New Zealand if he's found, according to a recent report in the New Zealand Herald.
Pratt, accused of using false promises to lure women into appearing in adult videos, was charged with sex trafficking and creating child pornography last November, leaving him open to extradition under a treaty between the U.S. and New Zealand.
He is believed to have returned to the latter country via Mexico.
"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," Foster said.
A civil case against Pratt and his associates could potentially award the plaintiffs over $12 million in compensatory and punitive damages, according to a "(Proposed) Statement of Decision" filed by San Diego Superior Court Judge Kevin Enright last week.
Attorneys Aaron Sadock and Daniel Kaplan, representing the defendants, note they "would likely object" to the civil case findings.
"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," they announced in a joint statement.
"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."
Wolfe is imprisoned in San Diego; Pratt's whereabouts remain a mystery.