Aylo Holdings S.A.R.L. (formerly MindGeek S.A.R.L.), parent company to Pornhub.com, has been held “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” by the Justice Department.
“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 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Assistant Director-in-Charge James Smith.
Pornhub has accepted the charges against it, entering into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement which will involve the imposition of a monitor for three years and payments to both the U.S. government and “individuals adversely affected by the underlying sex trafficking.”
The payment to the government will be relatively light, at $1,844,952.83. The Justice Department did not disclose the sums to be paid to its victims.
Pressure to take action against the pornographer initially came from regular people, with over a million signing a petition to shut down the site for hosting footage of sex trafficking victims.