According to a letter filed in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday, the former CEO of now-shuttered male escort site Rentboy is putting the final touches on a plea agreement following his indictment for promoting prostitution.
Related: BREAKING: Rentboy.com CEO Jeffrey Hurant Indicted On Prostitution Charge
Reuters reports that Jeffrey Hurant, 51, pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran what prosecutors breathlessly dubbed an “internet brothel,”alleging that the site “made millions of dollars from the promotion of illegal prostitution.”
Back in August of last year, Hurant and six of his employees were arrested during a sting operation in Manhattan conducted by Homeland Security with help from the NYPD.
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Related: Rentboy CEO Breaks Silence, Begs For Help On Facebook
The case has sparked outrage from gay rights advocates due to the oddly targeted nature of the crackdown. The legal complaint is bizarrely prurient, with prosecutors listing various fetishes from profile pages, including “sneakers, spanking, watersports, leather,” for no apparent reason other than shock value.
Six Rentboy employees were initially arrested during the sting operation, but the charges were later dropped.
Hurant’s lawyers asked for a plea hearing to be scheduled on August 29. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison — which would be, to put it objectively, a complete and utter disgrace.
Paco
Just legalize and tax it already. Keeping it illegal and in the shadows unregulated is what makes it unsafe and exploitative.
Bob LaBlah
Had he kept his mouth shut about the nature of his fortune none of this would be happening and he would still have his money (in the millions), cars and homes. People don’t ever brag when you know you aint “quite” right. People do get sick of you eventually and will get vindictive.
Tobi
If he hadn’t been so foolishly egotistical and had a ounce of common sense he would have domiciled Rentboy in Storey County Nevada or a country where prostitution is entirely legal, which is what identical sites such as Rentmen and Rentmasseur et al have done.
Stache
Tobi, up till that point these kind of busts hadn’t really happened. However, he definitely pushed the envelope though.
Tobi
@Stache. I agree, I also support full legalisation. The claims Rentboy were people trafficking etc. which meant the DHS got involved were also way over the top for what was obviously just an online publication. However, only a fool domiciles their company in a country or state where what they’re doing is illegal. You wouldn’t think of setting up a porn studio in Alabama, would you? I’m sorry, but Hurant was a loudmouth, egotistical idiot who has to shoulder the blame for all the nonsense that has fallen around his ears.
Billy Budd
It should be legal, totally legal, as it is here in Brazil and many countries in Europe. Prostitution can be a beautiful thing if detached from criminality.
arig82
blah… While I generally agree with comments that this type of activity should be legal, another side of me fears that our society is in a different place than those of Europe and Brazil. We have guns here and hate crime issues, we don’t have legal protection for sex workers. At least not at the national level. The question for me is who do we hold accountable in those cases where people get hurt, exploited, and or trafficked?
Lookyloo
We all acknowledge the timing of the RentBoy offices being raided and computers+servers being tucked safely away in gov’t hands SO SOON AFTER the Ashley Madison hacking is super questionable, right?
To refresh you memory:
Ashley Madison info was leaked on Aug 20, 2015
RentBoy offices were raided on Aug 25, 2015
I mean, c’mon. Is it too far fetched to think some On-The-Down-Low well connected privileged international powerbroker type(s) got super paranoid after the Ashley Madison hack and pledged something valuable to the U.S. gov’t if they’d take off-line and secure the computers of the company they used to hire gay-sex pals from?
Sure, the computers+servers of RentBoy don’t have any ID’ing info of the ‘johns’ – but being on the down-low because you could get exiled, disowned, publicly ruined, arrested, or killed – really can breed paranoia.
And I’m pretty sure the U.S. gov’t would gladly ruin the lives of a few out queer business people if they could get, say, a closeted Saudi Prince or some other down-low international powerbroker to owe them big time.
Or not. Whatever.
darren michaels
I’m confused, how is Rentboy any different than any other site online.?
There must be thousands of businesses and individuals all doing the same thing, what was different about Rentboy.?
Rentboy was just a link offering exposure, each individual worked for themselves.
He received a fee for space on his website, he had nothing to do with who, where or when anyone met. It just doesn’t seem reasonable to go after him for something that would require very clear proof.
How could the prosecution offer evidence he made money on prostitution when the money each guy made was well beyond Mr. Hurant’s involvement. His involvement would only take place initially by offering the ad..?
beachcomberT
Can anyone say if Homeland Security or the White House ever specified how this case is connected with the war on terrorism? Were the profits being channeled to a terrorist group? Or were certain U.S. politicians being “terrorized” through extortion?