PANAMA CITY, FLA---"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis got a rather unique gift his 34th birthday Sunday, a get out of jail card.

Francis had been found in contempt of court by U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak Friday after lawyers who represent seven underage girls who were filmed by his production company claimed that Francis had shouted obscenities at them during negotiations for a civil suit.

Francis's production company had filmed the underaged girls on Panama City Beach during spring break in 2003.

According to one of the attorneys, Larry Selander, Francis had threatened that he would "bury" the lawyers and their clients.

Judge Smoak had found Francis in contempt and ordered him arrested at 5 p.m. Saturday if he had not settled the lawsuit by that time. Francis avoided jail after his and his attorneys convinced the judge that the parties were making progress in their negotiations and the judge indefinitely stayed his order.

The seven women have sued Francis, saying they were victimized physically and emotionally because they were filmed in sexual situations while they were under 18, the legal age of consent.

Francis, founder, CEO and sole shareholder of two California companies doing business under the name "Girls Gone Wild," has been fined and ordered to do community service in both California and Florida for the failure of his company to create and maintain age and identity documents for performers in sexually explicit films produced and distributed by Girls Gone Wild, as required by federal law. He reportedly earns an estimated $29 million annually.

Francis claims the women had lied about their ages and had signed release forms. He says none of the films have been released.

Francis' firm, Mantra Films Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif., company, was sentenced to pay $1.6 million in criminal fines for failing to create and maintain age and identity records for films it produced.

The charges in the case are the first to be filed under a law passed by Congress to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. The law protects against the use of minors in the production of pornography by requiring producers to create and maintain age and identity records for every performer in sexually explicit movies and other media. Producers and distributors must then label their products with the name of the custodian of the records and their location.

Girls Gone Wild has admitted to hiring performers, and producing and distributing sexually explicit video materials during 2002 and part of 2003 while systematically violating the record keeping and labeling laws. The companies also admitted that in at least two instances in 2002 in Panama City they filmed minors in sexually explicit scenes that were included in two commercially released DVDs. 4-1-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette