What To Do If You’ve Been Exploited on Pornhub
Could I Qualify for a Lawsuit?
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Attorney Contact Information
National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center
endsexualexploitation.org | Media Inquiries
The Zarzaur Law Firm
www.zarzaur.com. | (205) 983-7985
Prince Glover Hayes
www.princelaw.net | (205) 345-1234
Levin Papantonio Rafferty
(850) 435-7000 | www.levinlaw.com
Laffey, Bucci & Kent
(215) 399-9255 | www.laffeybuccikent.com
Conrad O’Brien
(215) 864-9600 | conradobrien.com
The Lawsuit: Doe #1 et al v. MG Freesites LTD et al
For a copy of the Complaint, CLICK HERE.
An accomplished assembly of survivor-focused and commercial litigation law firms have jointly filed a class action lawsuit against MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub. The representative class members are two survivors of childhood sex trafficking whose videos and images of their sexual abuse were posted on Pornhub and other MindGeek-owned sites.
As detailed in the filed complaint, Plaintiff Jane Doe #1 was just 16 years old when she was drugged and raped by an adult male. The child sexual abuse and rape of Jane Doe #1 was filmed. That same man entered into a profit-sharing relationship with MindGeek under its Modelhub program. Under the terms of that program, MindGeek and Jane Doe #1’s rapist agreed to share profits from views and downloads of Jane Doe #1’s victimization on MindGeek’s websites. MindGeek reviewed, categorized, tagged, and disseminated the images and videos depicting the rape and sexual exploitation of sixteen-year-old Jane Doe #1. One of the videos of Jane Doe #1 had been viewed over 2,400 times after MindGeek added it to its websites in early 2018.
At no time did MindGeek or Pornhub attempt to verify Jane Doe #1’s identity, age, inquire about her status as a victim of trafficking, or otherwise protect or warn against her traffickers before or while the video of her being drugged and raped was sold, downloaded, viewed and otherwise advertised on Pornhub.
When Plaintiff Jane Doe #2 was still a minor, a sex trafficker introduced her to individuals who produced sexually explicit videos. The trafficker forced Jane Doe #2 to participate in the creation of sexually explicit videos that included adults engaging in sex acts with her. Videos of adults engaging in sex acts with Jane Doe #2 while she was a minor were uploaded and disseminated through websites owned, operated and/or controlled by MindGeek including, but not limited to, Pornhub and Redtube. Neither Pornhub nor any other website owned or operated by MindGeek undertook any measure to verify Jane Doe #2’s identity or age. As a result, child sex abuse material depicting Jane Doe #2 was distributed broadly throughout the world on MindGeek’s internet platforms.
The plaintiffs are suing MindGeek for financially benefiting from their abuse, which violates the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, among other laws. The case, Doe #1 et al v. MG Freesites LTD et al, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Through civil litigation, survivors can stand up to these corporations, shine a light on their exploitive and tortious conduct, and get some measure of justice and relief in the form of monetary damages. It is clear that MindGeek financially benefitted from the trafficking and paid rape of these survivors when they were children. They must be held to account for that.
We know that the plaintiffs in this case are not the only people who have been victims of MindGeek. We hope others will join them in this class action lawsuit to fight for justice and to put an end to MindGeek’s exploitation empire once and for all.