The Canada-based company that owns Pornhub will not face charges over links to a sex trafficking operation, the United States Attorney’s Office said Thursday after Aylo Holdings agreed to pay USD 1.8 million to the American government and make payments to victims under a deferred prosecution agreement.
As per the deal, an independent monitor will be appointed for a period of three years to ensure compliance with the terms of the deal, and Aylo, the owner of Pornhub, will make a USD 1.8 million payment to the United States. The Montreal-based company will also make unspecified monetary payments to “individuals adversely affected by the underlying sex trafficking,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
“This deferred prosecution agreement holds the parent company of Pornhub.com accountable for its role in hosting videos and accepting payments from criminal actors who coerced young women into engaging in sexual acts on videos that were posted without their consent,” US Attorney Breon Peace said.
“This Office is committed to ensuring internet safety and protecting people from online sexual exploitation. 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,” Peace added.
“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,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Smith. “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 US Attorney’s Office said that Aylo, beginning in 2009, hosted pornographic videos created by GirlsDoPorn (GDP) on its websites, including Pornhubdotcom. GDP’s operators were indicted in California in 2019 on sex trafficking charges which included allegations that they deceived and coerced young women into appearing in sex videos which were then posted online without their consent. The US Attorney’s Office said Aylo would be prosecuted if it breaches the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement.
(With agency inputs)
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