Wilkes Barre, Pa – A 19-year-old male escort from Virginia said he is the man in the photograph who investigators believe was scheduled to meet gay porn film producer Bryan Charles Kocis the night Kocis was killed inside his Dallas Township home.

The man, whose first name is Harlow, said he didn’t know Kocis and does not understand why investigators want to talk to him. Harlow, who refused to give his last name, said he was surprised to learn that his picture is linked to a murder investigation though he acknowledged that his photo has been misused by other male escorts or porn actors just starting in the business.

“Clients will call me or send me a text message saying they’ve seen my picture on a Web site, and that I’m offering services in Atlanta,” Harlow said. “I’ve seen my body but my head was cropped out and someone else will put their head in. It seems here that somebody is playing a sick joke or something.”

The photo released by law-enforcement officials is what Harlow calls his “cover picture.” He uses it for promotional purposes – on Web sites and on pamphlets advertising the escort service.

“That picture they are using, I’ve used everywhere,” he said. “It’s my cover picture.”

Harlow said he was with a client for three hours in his hometown of Virginia Beach when Kocis was killed on Jan. 24.

His employer, Mark, who runs Norfolk Male Escorts, supported Harlow’s claim that the man was with a client that night. Mark also refused to give his last name.

Barry Taylor, a Virginia Beach attorney who represents Harlow and the escort service, said they haven’t been contacted by investigators from Pennsylvania.

“Neither I, nor my client, has been contacted by anyone other than you,” Taylor said in an e-mail. “Obviously, this is a big surprise for me and my client. I have no further information to give you.”

State police Lt. Frank Hackin could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

State police at Wyoming on Friday released a picture of a man that Kocis had sent via e-mail to an associate. Investigators did not release the name of the man in the picture but said it was possible that his last name was Drake.

The picture began circulating on several interactive Web sites and some contributors to the blogs suggested that the picture belonged to Harlow in Virginia Beach.

Kocis, 44, told an associate he was meeting the man in the photo at his Midland Drive home at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 to discuss a modeling job for Cobra Video. Kocis owned and operated Cobra Video, a production company that produces and sells gay pornographic movies.

About 90 minutes after the scheduled meeting, firefighters responded to a report of a fire at the Kocis home. Kocis’ body was found on a couch. The coroner ruled he died of multiple stab wounds to the front torso and neck and was dead before the fire started.

A folding-type knife was found inside the home near the couch, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in the case.

The affidavit gave investigators authority to obtain Kocis’ telephone and e-mail records, and suggested that Kocis may have had a “personal association” with the suspect because there were no defensive wounds on his hands and arms.

Harlow said he doesn’t know of anyone by the name of “Drake.” He is familiar with Cobra Video movies, and admitted to meeting Sean Lockhart, an actor who appeared in several of Cobra’s films, during a recent adult film convention in Las Vegas.

“Nothing really came out if it,” Harlow said about his discussions with Lockhart.

A federal lawsuit filed by Cobra Video against Lockhart and business partner Grant Roy in the Southern District of California has been settled, according to attorney John R. Yates, who represents Lockhart and Roy.

In the suit, Kocis alleged Lockhart violated the terms of his contract and misused the trademark name Brent Corrigan for personal gain. Lockhart appeared as Corrigan in Kocis’ films.

Yates said the settlement was based on a joint business venture with the parties named in the suit.

“They agreed to go into a joint business venture for two to four years,” Kates said.

A settlement conference is scheduled for Feb. 21.

Yates said he only represents Lockhart and Roy in the civil lawsuit. The two men have retained a criminal lawyer, he said.