Boston- Before you ask what he was thinking when he answered a casting call for porn stars, let the man explain himself. Then those without sin may cast the first jokes. "The way it was described sounded good to me: making movies with Playboy Bunnies," said the 45-year-old Revere bachelor with chisled cheekbones and a head of dark hair even the young Al Pacino might covet. Telling his tale in a Herald exclusive, he insisted on being identified only as "Joe."
Lured like a moth to the blue flame of the X-rated film industry, Joe was burned for $16,000 by scam artists who placed a classified ad in the Boston Phoenix under "!Diamond Productions." Joe admits it set off alarms in his head when a woman with a Brooklyn accent named "Melissa Johnson" told him she was calling from Florida to cast him sight-unseen in a smut flick shooting in Rhode Island. But when told he could earn $30,000 for baring all, "no experience necessary," Joe was hooked. After all, friends had told him he resembled the "pizza delivery guy" one typically sees in these movies.
Promised limo rides and racy romps with randy starlets, Joe didn't get so much as a screen test. And when after a month of maxing out his credit cards on "deposits" toward studios and crews for shoots that were always canceled, he finally filed a complaint with the Revere cops.
"It makes no sense to me, it makes no sense to you, but if it's put right to the person who's anxious to get into that field . . . ," said Brighton lawyer Jefferson Boone, who represents Joe, who is employed in Boston's travel industry. "People's sex lives are very private to them," Boone said. "When some crook takes advantage of that it's distressing to me."
When Joe started asking too many questions, Johnson found out where he worked and called his boss, pretending to be a private investigator. Then, she threatened to set mobsters on him.
But who to sue? The phone number Joe called now refers callers to a pay-chat line. Joe contacted state Attorney General Tom Reilly's office, but was referred to the Office of Consumer Affairs. Reilly's office declined comment. Chris Goetcheus, spokesman for Consumer Affairs, said, "This is a matter for law enforcement. "It's very unfortunate what happened," Goetcheus said, "but consumers need to know you don't transfer money to anyone unless you verify the authenticity of the business offering a product, a service or, in this case, adult entertainment stardom."
