Aylo Holdings, the owner of Pornhub - one of the largest adult content websites, has admitted to profiting from the sex trafficking, including minors, and has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the US government, as well as separate payments to women whose videos were posted without their consent, federal prosecutors in New York announced late Thursday.
Aylo Holdings, the website's parent company, reached a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve a charge of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, according to the office of Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. -CBS News
The move comes months after the acquisition of Aylo (formerly MindGeek) by investor and Rabbi Solomon Friedman, who says he wants to turn the company's image around following this and other scandals involving illegal content on the platform.
In addition to the $1.8 million and individual compensation to women harmed by trafficking, Pornhub must appoint an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dismissed.
"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," according to US Attorney Peace in a statement.
The company is estimated to have generated more than $200 million in 2022, with operating margins of nearly 30%.
James Smith, head of the FBI's New York office, said Aylo Holdings "knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye" to victims who told the company they had been deceived and coerced into the videos.
Prosecutors said Aylo has agreed to pay victims compensation, but details such as who is eligible and how they can apply will be forthcoming.
The charge stemmed from Aylo's role in hosting videos and accepting payments from GirlsDoPorn. -CBS News
The operators of GirlsDoPorn, the now-defunct adult film production company, were charged with and eventually convicted of a range of sex trafficking crimes, including coercing young women into sexual acts on camera which were then posted on Pornhub and other adult websites.
Prosecutors allege that between 2017 and 2020, Aylo received money that company executives knew - or should have known - came from GirlsDoPorn's sex trafficking operation. The company received over $100,000 from GirlsDoPorn, and around $764,000 from advertisers attributable to the production company.
Aylo claims that it "deeply regrets" hosting content from GirlsDoPorn, which Aylo says provided them with written consent forms purportedly signed by the women. They say they didn't know the forms were obtained via fraud and coercion.
"Aylo is not pleading guilty to any crime, and the Government has agreed to dismiss its charge against the Company after 3 years, subject to the Company's continued compliance with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement," the company said in a statement.