Anonymous porn "star" Eric Whittaker, from the sleazy, Scottsdale-based website Backroom Casting Couch, is apparently pretty hard up for talent now that his top recruiter, Antonio Gonzalez, is up on kiddie-porn charges.
Whittaker, who never shows his face in his porn movies, has turned to Craigslist to lure girls into porn with the promise of up to $5,000 a day.
According to one former model, she's never seen Whittaker resort to Craigslist to recruit "talent." She says he's "absolutely" getting desperate now that his top recruiter's facing some lengthy prison time.
Normally, Whittaker uses Gonzalez's modeling agencies, Mayflower Modeling and Photos by Gonzo, to recruit young girls to appear in his faux-reality porn flicks. But with "Gonzo" currently facing six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, three counts of sexual
conduct with a minor, and one count of furnishing obscene materials to a
minor, his porn recruiting days may be over.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, in April of
2010, Gonzalez invited a 17-year-old girl to his house at 8854 South
Grandview Drive in Tempe to pose for photographs she could use in a
portfolio.
During the shoot, Gonzalez tried to pull the girl's
skirt down and asked her take some nude photos. The girl declined, but
that didn't stop "Gonzo."
Despite the girl's shooting down his
advances, Gonzalez pulled her onto his lap and tried to untie the bikini
top she was wearing. She again told him she wasn't interested in nude
photos, which Gonzalez must have interpreted as "I want to touch your
penis" because that's what happened next.
After getting shot down twice by the girl, Gonzalez, court docs state, "forced the girl's hand onto his erect penis."
The
girl again told him she wasn't interested in anything sexual. Gonzalez
responded by taking the girl to his computer and showing her photos of
him having sex with a girl the victim knew to be under 19. In fact, it
turns out the girl in the photos having sex with Gonzalez was only 16 at
the time.
Gonzalez copped to it all. He admitted knowing the
girls were underage, and told police he uses social media websites to
recruit girls to appear on Backroom Casting Couch.
One of "Gonzo's" former models, who wished to not be identified, tells New Times Gonzalez's aggressiveness is standard operating procedure for the fondling photog.
She
described an incident almost identical to the one described by
"Gonzo's" other victims where, without warning, he tried to undo her top
as she was posing for photos. She told him to stop, but he refused and
tried to grab her breasts. He finally gave up when the woman continued
to reject his advances.
The woman also explained how Whittaker was in the next room at the time and undoubtedly heard the attack.
Whitaker, as far as we know, has not been charged with any crimes, although, according to his Twitter page, the "SWAT team" kicked down his door on June 19, just days after Gonzalez's arrest.
