The National Police, in collaboration with the FBI, US Marshals and the OCN INTERPOL Madrid, have arrested one of the criminals included in the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives list, Michael James Pratt.
This is a New Zealander who is sentenced to life in prison in the United States for crimes of child pornography, sexual exploitation, sexual assault and illicit gains of more than 17 million dollars.
He was engaged in the audiovisual production of pornography and recruited minors and young women from the United States and Canada through deceit. She posted ads on the Internet offering alleged modeling jobs that ultimately turned out to be pornographic recordings. She also used other women whom she paid and used as “bait” to convince the victims that the material would never be published, in addition to holding them back and forcing them to perform sexual practices to which they had expressly refused.
According to testimonies from the victims themselves, on occasions they were held against their will at the recording locations, and they were not allowed to leave until they had complied with the demands demanded by the production company owned by the fugitive.
This is the first arrest in Spain of one of the criminals included in the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. So far, beyond the borders of the United States, only 57 of these fugitives have been captured.
The international search for Michael James Pratt began with his escape from the United States of America after being sentenced to life imprisonment. The judicial process focused on facts related to the production of audiovisual productions of pornographic content between 2012 and 2019.
