XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.misc, alt.transgendered   
   From: d@ray   
      
   A “furry” activist has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking after a lengthy   
   investigation which found he had held a woman hostage and forced her to   
   produce OnlyFans content for other “furry” fetishists as well as sexually   
   exploited a minor girl for the same reasons. Austin Taylor Koeckeritz, of   
   River Falls, Wisconsin, faces up to life in prison.   
      
   Koeckertiz was initially arrested in August of 2022 after his adult victim   
   had managed to find a way to alert her friend and sister to her captivity.   
   The two then went to the police, who raided the residence.   
      
   According to documents submitted by the Federal Defender Service on behalf   
   of Koeckertiz in February of 2023, Koeckertiz and the victim are said to   
   have initially met as business partners. The two launched an entity called   
   The Boring Company, taking the same name as the entity owned by X CEO Elon   
   Musk, of whom Koeckeritz was reportedly a fan. But while Musk’s company   
   focuses on novel inventions and infrastructure, Koeckertiz’s was centered   
   around advocating for and providing resources to “furries.”   
      
   Furries are a community of individuals who enjoy fantasy materials   
   featuring anthropomorphic animal characters. Some enthusiasts will spend   
   thousands of dollars creating customized “suits” to take on the appearance   
   of their favorite animal character, and many incorporate the characters   
   into sexual or pornographic acts.   
      
   Koeckeritz’s victim was made to dress in a furry suit resembling a black   
   and white-furred wolf while making erotic content, while Koeckeritz had his   
   own costume taking on the appearance of a black and blue-furred wolf.   
      
   Koeckertiz’s Boring Company would function as a pimp-like entity which   
   would have the victim make sexually explicit content for OnlyFans and other   
   erotic subscription websites and then take a portion of the profits. But   
   the victim told investigators she quickly lost her freedom, and was   
   imprisoned in a room and forced to make videos daily. Koeckeritz would   
   begin taking the entirety of her earnings, and refused to allow the victim   
   contact with her family or friends.   
      
   The victim was pressured to make a minimum of $1,000 per day in the sex   
   trade, and was coerced to make erotic content even when she was ill.   
   According to court documents, the victim was only allowed “time off” if she   
   recruited other young women to work for Koeckeritz from the local college.   
      
   Before the first police interview, the victim said Koeckeritz had poured   
   hot cooking grease on her. In another terrifying incident she recounted to   
   police, Koeckeritz chased her around the house with an AR-15.   
      
   But Koeckeritz had a second victim — a female relative who was just 14 or   
   15 years old at the time. Koeckeritz had exposed her to sexually explicit   
   content, with text messages being presented in court reportedly showing   
   that he had been encouraging her to enter the “furry” sex trade.   
      
   As part of his business ventures, Koeckeritz operated social media accounts   
   targeted towards the furry community — all of which are still live, but   
   have been inactive since August of 2022 when he was arrested.   
      
   On TikTok, Koeckeritz’s furry-centered channel boasted a following of   
   160,000, and featured videos of Koeckeritz and a female who appears to be   
   his victim. The TikTok handle is not being shared by Reduxx out of concern   
   for the privacy of the victims, both of whom were regularly featured on   
   Koeckeritz’s social media in an apparent effort to advertise them to other   
   furries.   
      
   Most of the videos featured lighthearted themes such as jokes and dancing.   
   In the videos where the female furry appeared, she is usually seen wearing   
   her mask, but normal clothing. Most of the outfits she appears in are   
   revealing, prominently showing off her lean form.   
      
   A child believed to be the minor victim also appears on Koeckeritz’s social   
   media in the form of TikToks and reels posted to Instagram. Though the girl   
   is obviously underage, multiple comments from adult viewers were left   
   requesting her contact information.   
      
   On Koeckeritz’s Instagram, which had 13,000 followers, he reposted much of   
   his content from TikTok as well as furry-related memes and photos. Some   
   were distinctly erotic, and feature a theme of two male furry characters   
   engaged in sexual activity.   
      
   His content also veered into political subjects, with Koeckeritz frequently   
   posting in support of trans rights and gay rights.   
      
   While Koeckertiz is said to have had sexual involvement with women, poetry   
   found by Reduxx written by him in 2019 suggests he had a number of male   
   love interests he professed affection for.   
      
   In one poem, titled “To Younger Me,” Koeckeritz laments over three men he   
   had romantic interest in as a teen. In another, titled “He’s My Best   
   Friend,” Koeckeritz identifies himself as gay in a poem about a male friend   
   he identified an interest in.   
      
   “People use gay like a bad thing. Like loving someone is an insult,” he   
   writes. “He is my best friend. He made me feel like tigers and stripes   
   lived in the forest instead of my skin. I’ll never forget when you kissed   
   my palm and said you’d always be here.”   
      
   His author profile on Letterpile states: “Austin Koeckeritz is always up   
   for a challenge, especially when it means helping others,” before launching   
   into a paragraph on life advice.   
      
   “All things are but a temporary state of being. Everything passes.   
   Happiness. Suffering. Everything, the good and the bad altogether, is   
   temporary. Nothing lasts indefinitely, not even this.”   
      
   On November 30 of 2023, the US Department of Justice announced the court   
   had accepted a guilty plea from Koeckertiz to one count of sex trafficking   
   by force, fraud or coercion and another count of trafficking of a minor.   
      
   “Sex trafficking continues to be prevalent because traffickers see the   
   profits they can make from exploiting the vulnerable victims they target,”   
   Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil   
   Rights Division said in a statement issued after the guilty pleas were   
   entered.   
      
   “This type of abuse — particularly of minors — will not be tolerated. The   
   Justice Department remains committed to prosecuting human trafficking   
   offenses and standing up for the victims exploited by these abusers.”   
      
      
      
      
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)