Douglas Wiederhold, a male performer involved in the GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking conspiracy, was sentenced to four years in federal prison on January 30, 2026. Wiederhold participated in 71 adult videos produced as part of the scheme led by Michael Pratt, which exploited young women through deception and coercion.
Wiederhold is the last of seven defendants charged in connection with the case to be sentenced. The criminal operation misled women into making pornographic videos under false pretenses and then distributed those videos online.
“Each defendant’s actions unleashed profound harm on hundreds of victims, and today the final conspirator was held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “These strong sentences reflect the bravery of the victims in coming forward and speaking of their abuse. Without them, justice would have been impossible. The Department of Justice thanks these remarkable women.”
Michael Pratt owned girlsdoporn.com, a website that featured videos of young women performing in their first adult film. Visitors paid subscription fees for access. From at least January 2011 to March 2012, Wiederhold acted as a salaried employee who sometimes traveled with Pratt to pick up women arriving for shoots in San Diego.
Wiederhold was aware that Pratt recruited women from across the United States and arranged their travel and accommodations for filming. At Pratt’s direction, Wiederhold falsely told participants that their videos would not be posted online but instead sent only to collectors abroad or distributed via VHS tapes with limited viewership. Despite knowing that the videos were being uploaded to girlsdoporn.com and other sites like Pornhub to drive traffic, Wiederhold continued to assure some women otherwise.
Even after learning about public distribution online, Wiederhold repeated these assurances to at least two women and witnessed Pratt giving similar false promises before acting alongside them in scenes. According to agents’ reports, some victims trusted Wiederhold because he treated them kindly during production.
During sentencing, six victims spoke before the court urging a maximum sentence. One woman said: “by putting me online and exposing me to the world without my consent, [Wiederhold] didn’t just humiliate me, he branded me …. I spent years unable to look my own family in the eyes.” Another stated: “The person I was before this happened no longer exists. I am a shell of who I used to be.” A third addressed Wiederhold directly: “throughout my experience with you, deception was constant. You lied about who you were, even using a false name to conceal your identity. You misrepresented your intentions and the reality of what I was being drawn into… After you got what you wanted from me, you left me alone, scared, humiliated, and overwhelmed by what had just happened.”
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino noted at sentencing that although Wiederhold left the conspiracy more than ten years ago,“what happened in this case had long lasting harm. Some of the damage [to the women] will be lifelong.”
Wiederhold has been ordered to self-surrender on March 27, 2026; a restitution hearing is set for March 6.
The investigation spanned several years and involved collaboration among FBI agents from Southern District of California,the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, U.S Marshals Service as well as victim advocates and prosecutors.
Other convicted co-conspirators include Michael Pratt (sentenced to 27 years), Matthew Wolfe (14 years), Ruben Andre Garcia (20 years), Theodore Gyi (four years), Valorie Moser (two years), and Alexander Foster (one year). Charges ranged from sex trafficking conspiracy under Title 18 U.S.C., Section 1594—which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment—to conspiracy charges under Section 371 with five-year maximum sentences.
The coordinated effort highlights ongoing work by law enforcement agencies such as the FBI’s Southern District office and task forces dedicated to addressing human trafficking crimes.
