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Seattle Man Accused of Using Social Media To Set Up Fake Porn Agency (nbcnews.com) 215

The Washington State Attorney General's Office has charged a Seattle man for setting up a fake talent agency for adult entertainers in order to trick women into posing nude and having sex with him. NBC News reports: Michael-Jon Matthew Hickey is accused of creating a fictitious business and using deceptive ads with bogus employment offers to find his victims. The lawsuit alleges Hickey offered and advertised commercial services solely for his "own personal gain" and to "satisfy his sexual desires" with no intention of following through on the promised services to help these women find jobs. Hickey, a 40-year old technology blogger and aspiring photographer, is charged with numerous violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the Commercial Electronic Mail Act. Assistant Attorney General Andrea Alegrett, who is handling the consumer protection case, told NBC News Hickey had developed "a sophisticated scam" which involved fake business websites, fictional people, and bogus contact information. The lawsuit alleges Hickey pretended to be a woman named Deja Stwalley, who claimed to live in Las Vegas where she ran a number of talent companies, including New Seattle Talent, West Coast Talent and FMH Modeling. The New SeattleTalent website stated: "We work as recruiters and scouts for some of the top studios in the Northwest. Our goal is to be the top recruiting group for girls in America. We're woman-founded and woman-owned, and take the talent's safety and welfare seriously." Hickey, posing as Stwalley, would contact women between the ages of 17 and 25 via Facebook and offer them a chance to audition for an adult film studio. Stwalley assured each woman that they "TOTALLY have the look they're going for" and could earn between $1,200 and $3,500 a day, the AG's complaint alleges. Digital Security expert Adam Levin, Chairman and founder of Identity Theft 911, said this case shows just how easy it is for someone to use social media for fraudulent purposes.
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Seattle Man Accused of Using Social Media To Set Up Fake Porn Agency

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  • More info on this... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Frosty Piss ( 770223 ) * on Thursday December 29, 2016 @07:55PM (#53575927)

    Sydney Brownstone at The Stranger (Seattle "alt: weekly) did a whole slew of articles on this guy who actually used to work at The Stranger. The dude is also up on rape charges, and there's some question if the ladies claimed rape only after the fraud, and if that's legit.

    http://www.thestranger.com/authors/20774260/sydney-brownstone [thestranger.com]

    • by J. J. Ramsey ( 658 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @10:11PM (#53576665) Homepage

      "there's some question if the ladies claimed rape only after the fraud"

      Wait, if it's rape by fraud, wouldn't you expect the ladies to complain only after they became aware of the fraud?

      • Rape by fraud? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Okian Warrior ( 537106 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @11:16PM (#53576925) Homepage Journal

        "there's some question if the ladies claimed rape only after the fraud"

        Wait, if it's rape by fraud, wouldn't you expect the ladies to complain only after they became aware of the fraud?

        I'm curious about this "rape by fraud" thing.

        Are you saying that someone who is convinced to have sex by fraudulent means, and who later finds out that there was fraud involved, can claim it was "rape" by reason of the fraudulent circumstances?

        How far does this go? If a man tells a women he's rich and she has sex with him, can she claim it was rape by fraud if she finds out he's a blue-collar worker?

        On the topic of the OP, if there were legitimate rape charges I would *expect* the charges to be filed notwithstanding the circumstances of the business. I cannot imagine any of the rape charges being legitimate if the women only come forward after realizing that they were defrauded(*).

        I always thought rape was "sex without consent". Is that no longer true?

        (*) Presumably these women were defrauded of money, and perhaps payment of services or contract violation depending on the situation, but I have a hard time believing rape if the women consented at the time.

        • Re:Rape by fraud? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Theaetetus ( 590071 ) <`theaetetus.slashdot' `at' `gmail.com'> on Friday December 30, 2016 @12:57AM (#53577177) Homepage Journal

          "there's some question if the ladies claimed rape only after the fraud"

          Wait, if it's rape by fraud, wouldn't you expect the ladies to complain only after they became aware of the fraud?

          I'm curious about this "rape by fraud" thing.

          Are you saying that someone who is convinced to have sex by fraudulent means, and who later finds out that there was fraud involved, can claim it was "rape" by reason of the fraudulent circumstances?

          I always thought rape was "sex without consent". Is that no longer true?

          Fraud obviates consent. Or, to put it another way, if consent is obtained fraudulently, the consent is not legally effective. Accordingly, there was no legally effective consent to sex.

        • by dryeo ( 100693 )

          Rape is probably the wrong word and isn't even in my jurisdictions legal code. As the other post says, if consent was fraudulently acquired, it negates the consent and having sex with someone who hasn't consented to sex is usually considered a no-no and often punishable by law. It's a lesser offence then using violence to force sex but it is still an offence.

          • by GNious ( 953874 )

            Allow me to ask a question or two, since I see people talking in circles (1 requests definition of fraud, answers are all that fraud => rape)

            If a woman on a "casting couch" performs sex, with consent, under the understanding that it'll lead to a job in pornography, and then learns that there is no job, is this the level of fraud that makes it rape?
            What other kinds of fraud exists that can negate consent? Promises of living-standards? Promises of being STD-free or infertility? Others?
            Is the woman engaging

        • by Boronx ( 228853 )

          If a man pretended to by a woman's boyfriend, and she had sex with him under that assumption, has he committed a crime?

          • If a man pretended to by a woman's boyfriend, and she had sex with him under that assumption, has he committed a crime?

            Identical twins have been found guilty for possing as each other to have sex with eachother's spouses without their knowledge.

            Not sure how else you could pretend to be someone's SO without actually being it.

          • by gweihir ( 88907 )

            Depends. For example, if he was an undercover policeman doing this as part of his job, things get tricky. It would at the very least be a huge ethics violation and hence should be a crime. If he was merely acting for direct personal gain, he is a scumbag, but there is (and cannot be) any law against that.

        • I think a little RTFA goes a long way on this one.
          I can see the angle you're coming from, but then there is this:

          Finally, if the woman agreed, a videotaped "attitude test" - sex with Hickey - that was said to be necessary to secure jobs and verify their willingness to perform sex acts with a stranger.

          So, the asshole presented sex as a requirement - for the position that didn't exist. Given the industry they were being "recruited" for, the women probably thought this was legitimate. Rather than this being a case of sleeping with the boss to influence him into giving you a job/raise.

          Say a doctor tells you he has to stick his penis in your mouth to take your temperature, and you, being

        • I always thought rape was "sex without consent". Is that no longer true?

          Borderline, I'd say - it ties in with the many cases of child molestation by famous people (like Jimmy Savill in UK), where the victims may have be argued to have consented in some cases (not a view that agree with, it has to be said), but they only did so because they were overawed ("star-struck"). It is also somewhat reminicent of the situation, where a manager uses his senior position to bully a junior, female employee to have sex with him. All in all, I think there is definitely an argument for calling

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Are you saying that someone who is convinced to have sex by fraudulent means, and who later finds out that there was fraud involved, can claim it was "rape" by reason of the fraudulent circumstances?

          If the fraud is designed specifically to rape them, like this guy's was, then yes. His intent was clear, and the work he promised never materialized.

          How far does this go? If a man tells a women he's rich and she has sex with him, can she claim it was rape by fraud if she finds out he's a blue-collar worker?

          It's unlikely, because in that case it would seem that she was only sleeping with him for his money and thus exploiting him just as much. The guy could likely argue that she did in fact get to eat at an expensive restaurant and stay in an expensive hotel room, so did actually receive the benefit she believed she was exchanging sexual services for. Could be quit

        • by GrumpySteen ( 1250194 ) on Friday December 30, 2016 @08:18AM (#53578143)

          "Rape by fraud" is a comment made here, not in any of the articles. Believe it or not, /. posters often post without reading the articles, leading to BS like this. Here's an example of what one article says about the actual charges:

          Charging documents show that the accuser at the center of the third charge claims Hickey raped her after she agreed to shoot non-nude photographs with him when she was 17 years old. The documents say that Hickey gave her a drink after telling her "she looked nervous," and that she doesn't remember very muchâ"other than brief flashes of Hickey penetrating herâ"after that.

        • by sudon't ( 580652 )

          I always thought rape was "sex without consent". Is that no longer true?

          The dude used fraudulent means to get her consent. In other words, she would not have consented had she understood what the situation really was. It's just like any other fraud. You hand over your money willingly, but only because you've been mislead about what you might get for that money. You've still been robbed.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Fraud and rape are fundamentally different. Fraud here means consent was given, but after intentionally false information was supplied. Rape means that there was no consent. Retracting consent after the fact is not possible, whether it was sex or some trade (and it can be argued sex was traded here), and that is the whole purpose why fraud exists as a crime. If you could retroactively withdraw consent for a contract or trade, fraud would become robbery or theft. And as a really bad side-effect, your signatu

    • by sudon't ( 580652 )

      Well, I have news for the Attorney General, this isn't the only guy doing this. It's such a "thing" now, that I'm surprised they can get any girls to fall for it. Then again, probably not a lot of girls spend as much time on YouPorn as I do.

      As for "rape by fraud", I can see that. It's a form of deception. Though I wish they find a different word than "rape".

  • Is he the guy with the black leather couch and video camera in his office?

    • Re:So (Score:4, Informative)

      by Mashiki ( 184564 ) <mashiki.gmail@com> on Friday December 30, 2016 @01:12AM (#53577207) Homepage

      Nah. He's a "reporter" specifically he's a reporter who had a hate-on for gamergate. [oneangrygamer.net] Seems to be a running thing for these anti-gamergate people, everything that they accuse their ideological opponents of whether it be doxing, harassment, and so on. They're actually guilty of themselves. Whether it's Devin Faraci, Zoe Quinn or Randi Harper, same shitty people engaging in shit behavior.

      Some more stuff [dcist.com] on this very special individual. [theothermccain.com]

      • Nah. He's a "reporter" specifically he's a reporter who had a hate-on for gamergate. [oneangrygamer.net] Seems to be a running thing for these anti-gamergate people, everything that they accuse their ideological opponents of whether it be doxing, harassment, and so on. They're actually guilty of themselves. Whether it's Devin Faraci, Zoe Quinn or Randi Harper, same shitty people engaging in shit behavior.

        Some more stuff [dcist.com] on this very special individual. [theothermccain.com]

        White knights can often appear a bit creepy. That said though: #NotAllWhiteKnights

        • by Mashiki ( 184564 )

          White knights can often appear a bit creepy. That said though: #NotAllWhiteKnights

          Considering the ones who've attached themselves to the anti-gamergate stuff? It's #allwhiteknights. Then again, I could never understand the point. They're the first ones who will say that "women are strong, independent and don't need men for protection!" And be right there, defending women and hoping to be praised for it. Virtue signaling at it's finest.

  • Based on there being a ton of "casting couch" porn, this seems like it happens a lot...

    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      Based on there being a ton of "casting couch" porn, this seems like it happens a lot...

      If you watch enough porn you will realize lots of those in casting videos are actually established porn stars -- not big name ones, but ones that appear in several other videos already, so it's unlikely they were really first-time auditioning.

      • The guy who I saw first doing this ("Rick" on Backroom Casting Couch) sure made it look real.

        Many of the girls he films seem completely believable as total amateurs, so much so that if these girls are putting on an act, someone in mainstream Hollywood needs to talk to them about acting in real films. I just don't think strippers, hookers or low-end porn pros can pull off some of the facial expressions and awkward pauses that happen in BRCC's videos.

        I always assumed there was a gimmick to them, though. My

        • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

          Yeah, not sure how many are real and how many are staged. Some of those castings have pre-interviews and you find out some of the girls have prior nude modeling or cam-show experience.

          There is one series (not Backroom Casting Couch) where I believe the girls are true amateurs -- not "duped into doing a scene for free" casting-video style, but they get paid for doing a single long scene. There was even a documentary about it (I think it's on Netflix). I saw the trailer for the documentary and even though the

  • by Nutria ( 679911 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @08:15PM (#53576017)

    He (and his parents) should be prosecuted for that alone!

    Deja Stwalley

    But his conviction should be reversed for choosing that name...

  • by MindPrison ( 864299 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @08:19PM (#53576043) Journal
    ...ever since the invention of Photography.

    How many young girls haven't been lured from the promise of a model career, but can't afford to pay the photographer or agents, and gets into the hands of fake agents and "hobby photographers" with professional looking gear.
    • by Nyder ( 754090 )

      ...ever since the invention of Photography.

      How many young girls haven't been lured from the promise of a model career, but can't afford to pay the photographer or agents, and gets into the hands of fake agents and "hobby photographers" with professional looking gear.

      But this happened via "social media" so it's new news. Right?

      And what the fuck does this have to do with Slashdot anyways?

      • by kenh ( 9056 )

        But this happened via "social media" so it's new news. Right?

        Wait, is this "new news" or "fake news", or is it "new news about fake porn producer"? Very confusing...

  • This is almost the same story as french journalist a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marc_Morandini">Jean-Marc Morandini. I wonder if they knew each other business or if they had a common inspirator.
  • ... where a guy does just this.

    Whether it's a setup porn site, I do not know.

  • Buy a Camera? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by cirby ( 2599 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @09:25PM (#53576411)

    Sheesh, if he'd bought a $500 HD camera and a couple of lights, he could have made actual porn and turned a profit while still having fun.

    • Yeah, the only part of this lawsuit that I disagree with is this statement by the attorney general "unconscionable loss of privacy through his deception".

      I think what he meant to say was "His unconscionable failure to violate their privacy through his deception."

      If he had actually followed through and gotten their nude photos and sex tapes public he wouldn't have been committing fraud.

      • Yeah, the only part of this lawsuit that I disagree with is this statement by the attorney general "unconscionable loss of privacy through his deception".

        I think what he meant to say was "His unconscionable failure to violate their privacy through his deception."

        If he had actually followed through and gotten their nude photos and sex tapes public he wouldn't have been committing fraud.

        He would still have impersonated a woman, and created sevaral fake companies to gain their trust. So a bit of mail fraud as minimum.

    • Re:Buy a Camera? (Score:5, Informative)

      by lucm ( 889690 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @11:43PM (#53577003)

      Sheesh, if he'd bought a $500 HD camera and a couple of lights, he could have made actual porn and turned a profit while still having fun.

      I don't think so. First, porn hosting/streaming is expensive because most hosts refuse this type of content. Second, the market is saturated, largely by amateurs who work for free or for pocket change. And third, in that business you simply can't get paid; the reputable payment providers like Paypal won't touch porn, and that leaves ones that are either part of an existing distribution network or that are linked to organized crime and anyways it scares away a vast majority of customers. There are ways and platforms (like clips4sale) but the ROI is just not there, even if your investment is low.

      • Sheesh, if he'd bought a $500 HD camera and a couple of lights, he could have made actual porn and turned a profit while still having fun.

        I don't think so. First, porn hosting/streaming is expensive because most hosts refuse this type of content. Second, the market is saturated, largely by amateurs who work for free or for pocket change. And third, in that business you simply can't get paid; the reputable payment providers like Paypal won't touch porn, and that leaves ones that are either part of an existing distribution network or that are linked to organized crime and anyways it scares away a vast majority of customers. There are ways and platforms (like clips4sale) but the ROI is just not there, even if your investment is low.

        On top of that, the requirements for running a porn site in Washington as such that you really have to spend a lot of time, effort and money to be legit. It's not something you could do at a loss just to get the "fringe benefits" this guy wanted. I knew a couple that ran a site for a while and one of them ran down all the work they had to go through. There are things like weekly paperwork accounting and recording everything, minimum requirements for office space that can only be used for certain purposes an

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Maybe Not So Bad (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jim Sadler ( 3430529 ) on Thursday December 29, 2016 @11:19PM (#53576931)
    If the guy just wanted sex I suppose all is fair. After all the girls that go for this want to be sexually very liberal anyway. The money part, to me, is where the fraud can take place. If the guy had simply set up shop and told the girls that he wants to interview them and snap pics and send them out in hope of getting work and not charged money he could have still had a lot of sex. But taking money while claiming to be connected to studios puts an opening for the law to punish him. After all, sex is normally about deception. That is why lipstick, cosmetics, pop up bras and the like exist. The clear intention is for a girl to look more sexy than she actually is and that is every bit as deceptive as the guy saying he could get girls expensive modeling work.
    • If the guy just wanted sex I suppose all is fair.

      Yeah, no. "just wanting sex" doesn't excuse a lot of things, and those things it doesn't excuse are collectively called "rape" in many cases. Drugging someone because "you just want sex" for example is not in fact considered "fair" and will in fact land you in prison. But I do invite you to try your "but, your honour, I just wanted sex" argument in front of a judge. Let me know how long you got when you get out.

      After all, sex is normally about deception.

      Yo

      • Drugging someone because "you just want sex" for example is not in fact considered "fair" and will in fact land you in prison.

        Funny you should say that, because that is actually one of the things Hickey is accused of doing.

  • by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Friday December 30, 2016 @01:13AM (#53577213)

    ... Fake Nudes?

  • 1. Would the suspect be a good example or a bad example, of a social media user who simply wants to make the most of his so-called social skills in a very social-centric online world?
    2. If it's a fake porn agency, would this item be considered as fake news, and Slashdot a fake news source for nerds?
    3. Would a real porn agency be equally newsworthy?
    Man hires 17-25 yo women for pr0n!

  • Tricking woman into sleeping with a man or a tricking a man into sleeping with a woman is as old as prostitution.

    How many men in Los Angeles claim they are close with some actor/producer/studio to bed a wanna be actress? How many men tell women they love them to sleep with them?

    How many women pretend to be attracted to a man to have him buy her things?

    This is clearly overreach. Carmela Harris and her attack on backpage is the same, despite the 9th circuit telling her so, she brought new charges.

  • How many guys out there are thinking right now, "Damn! Why didn't I think of that!"
  • Why didn't he just just set up a real recruiting agency? He could've gotten a lot more (ahem) bang for his buck with only a little more effort.
  • Fresh out of Man of the Year awards. I think this guy deserves an invitation to Washington DC on January 20th. If the president elect can, anybody can

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