Alleged con artist tricked women into sex by telling them it was 'Playboy audition'
A con artist has been charged after he convinced women to have sex with him under the guise that it was an 'audition' for a role in a porn film.
Mario Antoine, 33, then allegedly distributed nude images of his victims to their boyfriends and even their employers.
It's claimed the Missouri man contacted six women using a fake Facebook page, where he posed as a female porn star named ‘Nikki’ and directed them to his address.
Offering them thousands of dollars to appear in the adult films, Antoine allegedly told the women that they would have to prove themselves for the role by sleeping with him while he recorded it.
It's claimed Antoine told the porn hopefuls that the films would only be available for viewing overseas, and said he worked with Playboy Worldwide and Playboy Asia, companies that don’t exist.
It's further claimed at least six women fell for the plot, signing faux contracts and in turn receiving falsified cheques, all a set up to make his production appear more realistic.
One of his alleged victims said she was promised $1000 per tape that they filmed together, however after a year she had still not received payment.
In November 2015, Antoine allegedly blackmailed her, saying he would release the footage of their sexual encounters unless she paid him $9000 or slept with him again.
His alleged bribe worked, and she agreed to sleep with him to stop him from distributing the tape.
When another one of his alleged victims confronted him about her pay, he allegedly sent the explicit photos to her boss.
With his final three alleged victims, he is accused of sending their nude photographs to their boyfriends.
Antoine will front court on Thursday for his first hearing. If found guilty, he could serve a maximum of 60 years behind bars.
