Online Porn Producers Charged with Obscenity and Racketeering in Florida
PENSACOLA, FL – Clinton Raymond McCowen, AKA Ray Guhn, and Kevin Patrick Stevens of Global Technologies Inc. have been arrested in northwestern Florida on charges of racketeering, conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene materials, according to reports in the Associated Press.Global Technologies Inc., which also does business as Ray Guhn Productions, promotes a variety of sites through the CashTitans.com affiliate program, including CumOnHerFace.com, LesbianHangout.com and BustyTramps.com.
Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and State Attorney Bill Eddins said that McCowen and Stevens are the primary operators of a website that was selling video clips that featured numerous men and women from the northwest Florida area engaging in “group sex.” According to the authorities, the site at issue had approximately 5,000 “registered subscribers” paying $30 a month; the AP reports do not identify the website(s) by name.
According to Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar, the videos were shot at four houses in Pensacola, a house in Pace, FL, and at five hotels in Escambia County. Other settings included wooded areas, vehicles, stretches of Interstate Highways 10 and 110, and other public places, Edgar said.
McNesby said that the arrests reflect the area’s “values,” and are designed to send a message.
“We want people to know that we don’t want this kind of activity in our community,” said McNesby.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the website’s principles recruited and paid local men and women to engage in obscene group sexual activity. It is also alleged in the affidavit that the men hired people to engage in “private parties,” in which the defendants were also involved.
As part of the investigation, an undercover officer approached the defendants claiming to be interested in performing in videos. According to the affidavit, the officer was told that the company had been filming in the area for about five years, and had filmed over 100 women in the vicinity. The undercover officer also was allegedly told to recruit friends who might be interested.
In the course of raids last Friday, investigators also seized guns, drugs, computers and business records, according to AP reports.
McNesby and Eddins said the investigation arose from complaints made by Florida residents concerning local advertising of the films and recruiting of local models and actors to appear in the videos.
The arrests follow an earlier investigation that resulted in the March arrests of 16 people alleged to be the principal operators of 10 escort services in the Escambia and Santa Rosa areas. Authorities claim that the escort services served as fronts for prostitution rings.
ASA Edgar said he expects all but a handful of the defendants to plead guilty, with the rest standing trial. Edgar also said he expects more arrests in the case, soon.
“They are all solid cases,” said Edgar.
McCowen and Stevens were both released on Saturday after posting bond. No comment has been issued by the defendants and their legal counsel had yet to be identified at the time of this article’s writing.