Pensacola, Florida - A third suspect has been arrested in a multimillion-dollar Internet pornography operation that authorities say was based in Pensacola.
Andrew Kevin Craft, 38, identified by investigators as the general manager of the Web site on which locally produced films were shown, was taken into custody at his home in the 6500 block of Memphis Avenue in Pensacola.
Like the two suspects previously arrested, Craft was booked on a charge of racketeering -- conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene material.
Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and State Attorney Bill Eddins announced a months-long investigation into Global Technology Productions, which did business as Ray Guhn Productions.
The business revolved around a Web site with some 5,000 subscribers who could view films featuring group sex for $30 a month, according to an affidavit.
The films were made at several homes in Pensacola and Pace, at five hotels in Escambia County, along Interstate 10 and Interstate 110, in wooded areas and in other public places, said Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar, who led the investigation.
Edgar estimated that about 100 local men and women participated in the films. He would not identify any of those people or say how the film- makers located them.
The other two men arrested were:
· Web site owner Clinton Raymond McCowen, 45, also known as Ray Guhn, who resides in the 1900 block of Rue La Fontaine in Navarre.
· Producer and Web site technician Kevin Patrick Stevens, 36, of the 9700 block of Fowler Avenue in Pensacola.
The affidavit says a confidential informant told investigators that Craft solicited her to make movies for Ray Guhn Productions.
In addition, the affidavit says the informant also said she was paid to have sex with Craft, McCowen and another associate during "private parties'' at which they would determine whether women would be good performers.
The informant reported making as much as $1,000 for a movie.
Another confidential source told investigators that Craft, known to her as Jim, was responsible for recruiting models, finding locations for shoots, making the movies and paying the models, the affidavit says.
Craft was in the Escambia County Jail under $75,000 bond. McCowen and Stevens have bonded out.
Edgar said more arrests are expected.
Back story: PENSACOLA - Two northwest Florida men face racketeering charges after a law enforcement sting on a multimillion-dollar Internet pornography business.
Clinton Raymond McCowen, 45, of Navarre and Kevin Patrick Stevens, 36, of Pensacola have been arrested on charges of racketeering, conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene material, authorities said.
Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and State Attorney Bill Eddins said McCowen and Stevens were the main operators of a Web site that sold video clips of northwest Florida men and women engaged in group sex. The site had about 5,000 registered subscribers who paid $30 a month for access to the videos.
According to an arrest affidavit, McCowen and his associates recruited and paid men and women up to $1,000 to appear in the videos. An undercover officer was told the group had been filming in the area for about five years, the report said.
Authorities began the investigation several months ago after receiving complaints about advertising of the films and recruiting models and actors from the area.
More arrests were expected, authorities said.
