Underage Gay Performer Worked for Cobra Video

[basschick]

tombarr - we don't know it is "a colossal failure of due dilligence on the part of the studio". what else can a studio do after they have checked the drivers license and passport or other i.d.? what should they do if the guy looks 18, and if the i.d. looks legit? what if the model has his/her own phone so they can call direct (no parents answering or anything). and what if they have their own car?

how can you KNOW a model is 19 instead of 17? what due diligence can be carried out?

kids over 16 should be held accountable. maybe some community service or something would help - because these kids can do porn or sell adults drugs or have sex with adults after swearing they're over 18, but adults can go to jail.

[tombarr]

tombarr - we don't know it is "a colossal failure of due dilligence on the part of the studio". what else can a studio do after they have checked the drivers license and passport or other i.d.? what should they do if the guy looks 18, and if the i.d. looks legit? what if the model has his/her own phone so they can call direct (no parents answering or anything). and what if they have their own car?

how can you KNOW a model is 19 instead of 17? what due diligence can be carried out?

kids over 16 should be held accountable. maybe some community service or something would help - because these kids can do porn or sell adults drugs or have sex with adults after swearing they're over 18, but adults can go to jail.

From what I was told, first of all, people around Cobra already knew when these productions were going on that the ID's were fishy....they were supposedly even joking about it......

Secondly from what i was told by an FSC board member is that it appears the model presented multiple different ID's during the series of productions... and I'm sorry, but different ID's, and not requiring a secondary backup to validate at least one of them as being the correct one, is in my mind, a collossal failure in due dilligence on the part of the studio... This was their star for these 4 videos....when you have a star like this, I am sorry, you KNOW your model....and if he did in fact submit multiple ID's to the studio then it is a HUGE mistake on the part of the studio not to investigate that further...

You are right...the model is not innocent in this...he KNEW he was underage... he KNEW what he was doing.... he was not coerced into doing the videos..... he voluntarily signed the contract with the studio....YEAH, HELL YEAH, he should be accountable....and if he intentionally submitted anything other than legitmate ID's then he is even more wrong in this...and should definately not be treated with kid gloves....

But even so, the studio had a responsibility to investigate the authenticity of the ID's if more than one were submitted. And not to have done so was very careless at the least....but more than likely a failure of dilligence.

And if, there is any truth to people out here in CA Knowing the kid was underage, and other people around the studio knowing the same, my bet is, the studio probably knew it too....or at the very least was suspicious of it...and maybe even looked the other way saying "well I have an ID that looks legit so I'm covered" (this is all conjecture).... well then the studio is very very guilty of reckless behavior.

all of this is conjecture and third party heresay at this point, and I of course am just expressing my "if this is the case" or "what if" opinion and not in any way trying to say that anything that i have heard is the honest truth, because only those actually involved really know until it comes out in the wash....

but just based upon the experience I have in the 11 videos we have produced, and marketed for other studios..... I am sorry, but this appears to have been very negligent behavior on the part of the studio, perhaps even worse, and obviously very devious and cunning on the part of the model if he submitted false ID's knowing he was only 17, and to me....
well it smells like a skunk..... and where i am from in Georgia.....if it smells like a skunk....it's either time to take a bath ... or a skunk.

[allboysvideo]

Basschick I must agree with your statement regarding underage talent posing as over 18 years old. In our society today many 16, 17 year olds look over 18...heck! when I was 15/16 I looked over 18 (as you can tell back then the drinking age was 18, okay am I showing my age?) and I was able to purchase liquer and gamble at the racetrack and nobody ID'd me.

Today many 17 year olds look older..some over 18 some even over 21 years old and if this "17" year old brings his ID into an adult production studio a great looking fake ID and the producer can't tell if its "fake" cause it looks real good, I believe IMHO that the "17" year old posing as an adult should be held responsible. What if the "17" old passed the "Fake" ID to a club/bar or to drink or gamble...would the establishment be held responsible? Who takes accountability for the "17" year olds action...the parents!

In my experience in dealing with guys 19 or over, many of these guys come from broken very disfunctional homes. I can't believe the stories I here from these boys...although they are legal, the way they are treated by parents. For example we have one model that works for us, he's 20 years old. He told his parents at 19 he was gay and because they are "Catholic" they through him out of the house...he ended up dropping out of school because his parents wouldn't support him, almost became homeless, had to stay with friends...he befriended and "sugar daddy" and then decided to do porn because of the money he can make, all because his parents are "Catholic". Today many parents are not taking responsiblity of there sons and daughters. I'm 38 years old...never in my right mind at the age of 18 I would ever do porn...matter of fact back in the 80's and 90's porn was for hot musclar guys like Jeff Styker...when I was 18 I waited on tables and worked in the mall and in restuarants...today it seems that its fashionable to be in porn...so again...who should be responsible?

[basschick]

"who should be responsible?" THAT is the question.

i think parents who throw their kids out pre-18 should be held a lot more legally responsible than they are. my son's best friend had just come out as a lesbian, but strangely it was her smoking that made her mom throw her out at 15. 15, and had always lived at home - suddenly forced to live with others or else live on the street.

some people would argue with me, but no kid who has a really happy home life makes porn movies - and if they did, no normal protected kid knows where to get phony i.d. that would pass inspection.

i was a teenage runaway, and i was lucky. but most kids on the street - or kids living in their homes unloved and treated like criminals - aren't lucky. they have to do something for money, for survival, and to feel like they have a value in the world. porn fits in there really well - you see you have a value as a sexual entity, you even get to feel your sexual power over other people. in the meantime, you make some money and the studio might even help you out.

which still makes the parents responsible, imo.

[gaybucks_chip]

Perhaps we're an exception. but the majority of our models are good kids -- many in college, most with good parents, and we have a lower-than-average number of drug users among our mdoels (compared with the average gay youth population.)

We do have a handful of models who've been thrown out by their parents, one of whom lived in a youth shelter from 15 to 18 (and is, btw, one of the most grounded, together, sweet kids I've ever met, now in college to be a social worker) but even there, with the exception of one or two of them, they've for the most part worked hard to get themselves stabilized.

Most of our guys seem to really enjoy the visibility and notariety they get, and are genuinely really excited when their sets go up on our site or come out on one of our videos... so I think that this generation has a very, very different view of doing adult work than the previous generation. Far from something that's degrading and shameful, I really think a lot of today's kids are proud of their work, get kudos from their friends and totally are excited about the work they do.

Now none of this excuses a kid from faking his age docs, and as I said before, when the dust settles on the Cobra matter, I think that the model will end up looking like shit and probably paying in some way for his actions.

My understanding is that he's proud of his work and doesn't really want it off the market, but also realized that it would come out sooner or later that he was underage, so he chose to just come clean, realizing that there would be fallout both for him and for Cobra.

He's being smart and -- at the advice of his attorney -- keeping quiet, while Bryan is busy digging himself in deeper, posting messages at Juicygoo and elsewhere.

For my money, while Brent is a total piece of crap for lying to Cobra in the first place, at least he's trying to do the right thing now. Cobra, on the other hand, seems to have shown no interest at all in pulling the product (it was the distributor who did that, without any contact from Cobra), nor did Cobra make any statement as to what will be done for any of its retailers or distributors.

So while the model caused the problem in the first place, Cobra has made things much worse by possibly ignoring signs it might have had a problem, then dragging its feet in pulling the product when it knew there was a problem, refusing to make a public statement, and failing to do anything to support its base of retailers and distributors.

In this business, I thknk that's as much or more unforgiveable than the first actions by the model.

[Squirt]

i was a teenage runaway, and i was lucky. but most kids on the street - or kids living in their homes unloved and treated like criminals - aren't lucky. they have to do something for money, for survival, and to feel like they have a value in the world. porn fits in there really well - you see you have a value as a sexual entity, you even get to feel your sexual power over other people. in the meantime, you make some money and the studio might even help you out.

which still makes the parents responsible, imo.

.

OMG we have a lot in common.

I never did porn as a kid, ever. It never crossed my mind. I worked 3 jobs to support myself ( 2 different KFC stores and Target )

I cannot believe that there will be no consequences for this kid who willingly lied to make a buck and now, for whatever reason, is having all this material pulled.

Chad is a good guy and he's just doing what is legally right, but I hope this kid has a strong financial reminder, or other, that will teach him not to lie to get whatever he wants. My hunch is that Chad knows something important that we don't which is making him go forward with this. I'm sure that if Chad knew these guys knew at the time that this kid was underage he'd continue full force to make them pay. That's only my guess though, and if it's correct, Chad and the kid are doing the right thing. :francais:

[Matt 26z]

Assuming guilt, what do you think their motive was for not handling this behind closed doors?

There's two choices. Either meet the model's demands and pull the product, or let the model go public.

Why did they allow him to go public? If he truly was underage, it'll be a slam dunk case against Cobra. There is no way out of it. There is no damage control for this one.

These guys can't be that damn stupid. Puzzling....

[Huskyhunks]

This is funny because Brent Carrigan looks like he could be the father of alot of "boys" on the most popular gay tgp's.

I was in college at 17 and very aware of myself and the world around me. Maybe, technically, Brent was "underage" according to the law but what about those kids on the tgp's that look about 12. What about them ? Aren't they the ones that deserve the full protection of the law and law enforcement ?

Brent is using everything he has at his disposal to further his career. Why else would he hire an attorney ?

While we "back and forth" about Brent, there's kids being used and abused, helpless and being denied a basic human right and a decent childhood. Let's focus on those children instead of these lame "policing" efforts brought about by 2257.

[Lee]

Assuming guilt, what do you think their motive was for not handling this behind closed doors?

There's two choices. Either meet the model's demands and pull the product, or let the model go public.

Why did they allow him to go public? If he truly was underage, it'll be a slam dunk case against Cobra. There is no way out of it. There is no damage control for this one.

These guys can't be that damn stupid. Puzzling....

By going public, they ruin the models chances of getting more work plus, they also stand the chance that the model will start posting stuff.

Right off the bat here, Cobra has a fraud and deception lawsuit on their hands, having paid a model monies *thinking* he was 18.

That isnt even taking in to account the breach of contract suit which, if the model entered in to while under the age of 18, chances are they will lose however, if it was entered in to after the model was legally 18 years of age, chances are, they'll win hands down.

Anything else the model says in the public domain, could be used as evidence in any such additional proceedings Cobra feels are warranted.

Non of that takes in to account any criminal charges that may or may not be looming on the horizon for both Cobra and the model in question.

Regards,

Lee

[gaybucks_chip]

By going public, they ruin the models chances of getting more work plus, they also stand the chance that the model will start posting stuff.

Not likely. Traci Lords certainly did work after she was exposed. Unfortunately, in this industry, the same one that exposes models to possible death from HIV so they can make an extra few bucks selling bareback videos, somebody will come along to make the cash from pretty much anything that cash can be made from.

Right off the bat here, Cobra has a fraud and deception lawsuit on their hands, having paid a model monies *thinking* he was 18.

Good luck (a) enforcing an unenforceable contract made with a minor (b) enforcing a contract in which you're going on the stand and admitting you exposed an underage model to the risk of death from HIV, (c) enforcing a contract against a minor when you, the producer, made $100,000 or more off of the CP video while the underage model got maybe a grand.

Anything else the model says in the public domain, could be used as evidence in any such additional proceedings Cobra feels are warranted.

As could anything Cobra says... and what Cobra has said is far more damaging to its own case than what the model has said.

Non of that takes in to account any criminal charges that may or may not be looming on the horizon for both Cobra and the model in question.

Exactly. A studio that has inadvertently filmed and released a CP title yet knows or should have known/reasonably suspected a problem and did nothing about it is guilty of CP.

A model that gave falsified documents when he was underage is also subject to criminal laws, but as a juvenile at the time the offense occurred, it would be handled by the juvenile court.

I'm not in any way defending or excusing the behavior of the model -- it was reprehensible, and I acknowledge that the same thing could have happened to us or any other twink studio if the model was cunning enough. The difference comes in how the studio handles the matter once it becomes known to them or they should reasonably have suspected a problem.

This isn't the first or even the 5th time a studio has had to recall a title. It's just (as far as I know) the first time a *distributor* has had to recall a title while the studio sits silently by and says nothing.

[ethanmasters]

I find it interesting that when something bad happens to one of our fellow studios, many of you immediately lash at the throat and chalk off another opponent gone.

You are all just so anxious to jump to conclusions and assume that bryan, the proud owner of an extremely successful producer who has probably taken business/traffic from most of us on these boards, is a manipulative, child pornography producing sicko.

I just find it sad that instead of being concerned or even supportive for one of our own, you guys would rather make accusations and slam a friend.

[allboysvideo]

I find it interesting that when something bad happens to one of our fellow studios, many of you immediately lash at the throat and chalk off another opponent gone.

You are all just so anxious to jump to conclusions and assume that bryan, the proud owner of an extremely successful producer who has probably taken business/traffic from most of us on these boards, is a manipulative, child pornography producing sicko.

I just find it sad that instead of being concerned or even supportive for one of our own, you guys would rather make accusations and slam a friend.

I kind of agree with this statement but based on what many of us here through the grapevine about the owner of the studio plus what I have heard from some of the models and othe producers. The producer/owner is not a very kind person and I think the people on this board who is bashing the owner of the studio has first hand experience when dealing with the owner and had somekind of conflict. Although I never met the man or had any dealings I can't judge him but his reputation travels in our circle of "gay porn producers" and word travels fast.

I've also heard that he films many of these boys at age 17 but doesn't pay them $$$$ until they turn 18 years old and brings in a current ID showing they are of age. So in otherwords, the filming is completed when they are 17 but not released until they are 18 years of age and he has the proper ID in hand in his records and then he states a different production date on his and there records. The footage is what they call "in the can" but not edited for a video and released until they are actually 18 and the owner has the proper ID...but again that is just rumor and hearsay and none of us really know the facts.

[ethanmasters]

I've always considered Bryan a friend. He's always been extremely kind with me when I've dealt with him through video reviews and such. I'm not saying that this is all bullshit or that he's not guilty of a crime. It's very clear that none of us really know what is going on with this and we just have to wait to find out. What we should be more concerned about is how the government is going to use this incident as an excuse to start prying even further into our studios to hurt the industry even more than they've tried.

I do have a question though, even if all of this came about because the model stated he wasn't 18 until October 26th of 2004, why was "Bareboned Twinks" removed from distribution? That was produced this year so he was obviously of legal age. If Bryan was "fooled" by a model presenting a fake ID, why should he lose even more money on a video that without scrutiny was produced legally? Not trying to start a fight, was just curious.

[Xstr8guy]

I do have a question though, even if all of this came about because the model stated he wasn't 18 until October 26th of 2004, why was "Bareboned Twinks" removed from distribution? That was produced this year so he was obviously of legal age. If Bryan was "fooled" by a model presenting a fake ID, why should he lose even more money on a video that without scrutiny was produced legally? Not trying to start a fight, was just curious.

Maybe that is one of the titles in which the DOP was not accurate.

Btw, is anyone else concerned that cobravideo.com still has these titles on their website?

[allboysvideo]

Again, we don't know why? what? or when? Right now everything that is said or writtin is heresay or rumors and we don't know the facts. All we know is what the model said and what the position of the studio and both are telling different stories. To come to any conclusion and accuse the model or the producer at this point is just premature---we just don't know the whole story!

It will be interesting to read about how the government plays a role in all this and how they will handle such a situation since the government is so anti-porn right now and how this will affect other gay production studios. The question is, is the FBI involved? Or local officials looking into this claim? It will be very interesting to see how this whole thing plays out as the news/information is released to the media.

Im taking Rocky's role from Beachboi and sitting down with by bag of popcorn, Rocky can you pass me the butter?