Staff Reports
A fetish video producer imprisoned for exploiting homeless people will soon be released from prison.
Jeffrey Williams, owner of J.P. Productions and the force behind kink website SheFights.net, made national headlines when videos of scantily clad women beating “hobos” outraged advocates for the homeless and mentally ill.
The videos were made in Tampa Bay, many in Williams’ St. Petersburg townhome and pushed out across a number of digital platforms including SheFights.net and ShePunishes.com.
The State Attorney’s Office in Pinellas County learned the company paid homeless individuals $25 to $50 to be beaten for extended periods of time on camera. In 2014, prosecutors took Williams and Zuzu Vergo, a performer in videos, to court on charges of aggravated abuse of a disabled person.
A jury in 2014 found both Williams and Vargo guilty. A judge in 2014 sentenced Vargo to three years in prison; she was released in June 2016. Williams, sentenced to seven years, will be released on Oct. 1 according to the state Department of Corrections.
During his sentencing hearing, Williams said he was unaware one of the men paid to be on the video was schizophrenic. The sadomasochistic fantasy videos worked on the principle no one faces more pain than they desire or consent to receive, he argued.
“I deeply regret the pain and the anguish that we caused,” Williams said in court, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In an email later released by the team at ShePunishes.net, Williams remained adamant about his innocence.
“We never coerced or manipulated anyone to be in our videos and we are confident we will win on appeal,” Williams wrote. “The state allowed the jury to be swayed by manipulative and lurid allegations and emotionally charged ‘evidence’ that we took advantage of a participant that was never adjudicated to be mentally incompetent.”
But Williams’ appeal did not succeed. In 2013, four homeless men featured in the videos won a civil case against Williams and his company, and a judge ordered Williams and his business to pay each of the men $14,000 and cover attorney’s fees.
Williams, who appeared in some SheFights.net videos himself, previously promised filming would resume once he was released from prison.
SheFights.net and other domains remain dormant except for third-party sponsored listings, and the company Twitter handle @shefights has not been updated since April 2012.
