Adult Video Series ‘Girls Gone Wild’ Pleads Guilty

A California company doing business under the name “Girls Gone Wild” has pleaded guilty to charges that it failed to create and maintain age and identity documents for performers in sexually explicit films that it produced and distributed, and that it failed to label its DVDs and videotapes as required by federal law, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Miller of the Northern District of Florida announced today.

Santa Monica-based Mantra Films, Inc. entered its plea agreement today before U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak at U.S. District Court in Panama City, Fla. A second related company, MRA Holdings, LLC, also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement.

Under the agreements, Joseph Francis, the founder of the two companies, agreed to plead guilty to offenses to be filed later in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, and the companies and Francis agreed to pay fines and restitution totaling $2.1 million.

The charges in this case are believed to be the first to be filed under a law – often referred to as Section 2257 – passed by Congress to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. The law protects against the use of minors in the production of sexually explicit material by requiring producers to create and maintain age and identity records for every performer in sexually explicit movies and other media. Producers and distributors must also label their products with the name of the custodian of the records and their location.