The FBI is offering more than $15,000 for information that will lead to the location and arrest of a fugitive New Zealand man accused of sex trafficking and producing child pornography. Photo: FBI
Spanish police have arrested a child pornographer who is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives.
New Zealander Michael James Pratt, 40, had been sentenced to life in prison for child pornography, sexual exploitation and sexual assault in the United States.
It is understood he was staying at a hotel in Madrid under a false identity.
Police said he was involved in the audiovisual production of pornography, recruiting underage girls and young women through deception between 2012 and 2019.
He earned more than $17 million with those activities.
Only 57 criminals on the FBI's Most Wanted list have been apprehended outside the bureau's jurisdiction, Spanish authorities said, adding that it was the first time this had occurred in Spain.
Police said the fugitive placed online advertisements offering "modelling" jobs, which turned out to be pornographic recordings.
He paid other women to act as "bait" and convince the victims the recorded material would not be published online.
Sometimes, victims were held against their will and forced to perform sexual practices to which they had previously expressly refused consent, police said.
A New Zealand child advocacy group said the arrest was a great outcome.
Founder of Stop Demand, Denise Ritchie, said the impact sex-trafficking had on victims was long-lasting.
"A lot of people think that sex-trafficking and the harm that's done to victims is by people and offenders 'out there', outside New Zealand, but this is a case that highlights New Zealanders are very much and regrettably part of the global scourge of sex trafficking," she said.
Ritchie said sex trafficking was a demand driven crime, and ways must be found to reduce that demand.
-Reuters/RNZ