Woman Sues Porn Performer, Social Network for Rape, Negligence

MIAMI—A male adult performer who works under the name Jah-T, an alleged accomplice and six corporate entities were sued this week by a woman identified only as Jane Doe No. 11, who is accusing the men of using a social network site to lure her to a fake audition in 2006, where she was given alcohol that secretly contained Xanax and then raped while unconscious. The rape was allegedly videotaped and then distributed for profit. In addition to suing the men and the companies they ran, Jane Doe also is suing the social network site, BlackPlanet.com, for negligence. She is seeking $10 million. On Aug. 16, a Miami grand jury criminally indicted the same two men accused by Jane Dow No. 11—Lavont Flanders Jr. and Emerson Callum, aka Jah-T—on 22 counts of using the same methods described above to lure, under false pretenses, nine women, including Jane Doe No. 11, to locations where they were secretly given Xanax and then raped while being filmed. If the men are found guilty of all charges, they could be sentenced to life in prison. The corporate entities sued by Jane Doe include BlackPlanet.com, a social network site for African-Americans that claims over 15 million members; Radio One, a broadcasting company that is the parent of BlackPlanet; Interactive One, Radio One’s digital platform property, which operates BlackPlanet; Community Connect Inc, another Radio One subsidiary that also had operational control over BlackPlanet; Miami Vibes Enterprises, an adult production company owned by defendant Callum; DCash Technologies, the parent company of adult website DCashStudios.com; DSynternet Media, another owner of DCashStudios.net; and Dsynternet Online, another owner/operator of the same website. Defendant Callum is alleged to be a Miami resident and the president or managing agent of Miami Vibes. Defendant Flanders is not alleged to be an owner of any of the defendant companies. According to the Miami Herald, Callum, a Jamaican who resides in Miami, and Flanders, a former Miami Beach police officer, have worked together since 2006. The federal indictment covers crimes allegedly committed by the pair that took place as early as May 2006 and continued through July 2007. The indictment also states that Flanders would troll ModelMayhem.com as well as BlackPlanet.com, using false identities to contact and then lure women to auditions for mainstream modeling gigs for name-brand liquor companies, and that the women were entreated to drink real alcohol as part of the audition. After the women ingested the alcohol, which according to both the lawsuit and indictment secretly contained Xanax, Flanders would have them sign model releases, and then, “while filming the women, would ask them whether they were under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, knowing, however, that they had already consumed the alcoholic beverages he had given them, which contained Xanax.” Callum, having witnessed all of this, would then allegedly have sex with the women; Flanders would videotape the sex; and then Callum, through Miami Vibes, would sell videos produced using the videotaped content. According to the indictment, “Flanders and Callum did not pay any of the women any money for the videotaping or distribution of these video-recordings.” According to Jane Doe, following two such “auditions,” she was dropped off either at her hotel or a relative’s residence, unaware that any sex or filming had taken place. It was only after her agent asked her in October 2007 why she had not informed him that she had done pornography that she learned of the existence of the video. “Jane Doe’s agent purchased the pornographic video and brought it to Jane Doe’s house to view,” the complaint states. “Jane Doe watched the video of her with Edward Callum, realizing for the first time that she had been raped by Callum during one of the auditions.” The Miami Herald reported that Radio One has “’vehemently’ denied all of the allegations in the lawsuit,” and that the company’s lawyer wrote in an email, "We are confident that we will be absolved in a court of competent jurisdiction. The owner and operator of BlackPlanet.com strongly encourage Internet users to observe prudent and safe practices." The complaint can be accessed here. The federal indictment can be accessed here.