A judge in a criminal sex trafficking case against Pornhub is being asked to recuse himself after he revealed a close personal relationship with the company’s lawyer.
Brian Holm, a lawyer representing more than 130 women in a separate civil sex trafficking case against Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, sent a letter asking U.S. District Court Judge Eric R. Komitee to pass the criminal case to one of his colleagues on the court.
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“Aylo, which operated PornHub, partnered with the GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking organization to promote, publish, and monetize videos of my clients which were obtained by force, fraud, and coercion,” Holm’s letter begins. “Aylo’s partnership with GirlsDoPorn and mass distribution of these illegal videos absolutely devastated the lives of my clients.”
“It does not matter if Your Honor’s decisions in this case are impartial,” he continued, citing the judicial code of conduct. “The appearance of impartiality is what matters, and the appearance of a conflict erodes the public’s trust in our judicial system and will cause the victims to question whether the case is being handled on a level playing field.”
In a transcript reviewed by the Washington Examiner, the New York-based judge was forthcoming in acknowledging his relationship with Aylo defense attorney Eric Corngold, calling him a “friend and someone I have or try to have lunch or dinner with on at least a semi-regular basis.”
The judge went on to say that that sort of relationship “will continue for the duration of this case. And if that is something that you might view as problematic, the sooner you raise that question, the better.”
“I may raise that question on my own,” Komitee added.
The case was randomly assigned to Komitee.
Tara McGrath, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York prosecuting the case, said “we are very comfortable saying that we don’t see that as a conflict or certainly one that we couldn’t waive.”
Holm, who has interest in the case due to his civil representation of its victims, does not agree.
“Considering the impact Your Honor presiding over this case has on Aylo’s victims is particularly important because the victims have been fighting for years to recover from this vile crime, and having their day in Court with Aylo is a large part of that recovery,” the attorney for the women wrote. “Years later, many of them are still suffering from suicidal ideations and are being committed out of concern for their welfare.”
The request for recusal comes as Aylo said it reached an agreement with the New York prosecutors for a deferred prosecution, meaning the government will dismiss the charges against the company after three years of compliance with the agreement.
The deferred prosecution agreement is subject to the court’s approval, meaning Komitee would have to sign off on it.
A hearing to address the potential conflict of interest has been scheduled for Monday.
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Holm said the deferred prosecution agreement is “a good way for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to force Aylo to help the victims and clean up its act,” noting that “you cannot put a corporation in jail,” according to the Logic.
An Aylo press release says the company will allow third-party oversight for compliance for the duration of the agreement, and that it will make payments to the victims.
