Thread: Florida homeless paid to be beaten up by women

Website in court for paying homeless to be beaten by women
April 13, 2011 - 7:47AM


A scene from one of the fights on shefights.net.

A video company paid homeless men $US50 to be filmed while scantily clad women punched, kicked and whipped them, according to a lawsuit filed in a Florida court.

Lawyers for two homeless men said the website Welcome to Shefights.net sells videos on the internet of the so-called "beatdowns," starting at $US2.99 for a two-minute "sparring session" clip and increasing in price to $US33.99 for a 33 minute clip of two women beating a man.

The lawsuit contends the beatings violate a state hate crimes law that specifically protects the homeless and that the producers are exploiting the poverty of transients for whom any cash is hard to come by.

"What type of society would allow this to happen?" said Neil Chonin, the lawyer for the homeless men. "This company preyed on people who are desperate."

Chonin and area homeless advocates said there are many more men who were assaulted in exchange for cash and that some were injured so badly that they were hospitalised.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by the St Petersburg Times, was filed April 1. A judge recently ordered the website manager, Jeffrey S Williams, to not take down the website or erase the videos in question so the evidence could be preserved for trial.

In an email to the Associated Press, Williams said his accusers are trying to pressure him through public attacks.

"My side will come out in court," he wrote in the brief statement.

St. Petersburg Police Spokesman Mike Puetz said detectives are investigating the allegations as well.

Word of the homeless beatings first surfaced about three months ago, said GW Rolle, a St Petersburg homeless advocate who works with the National Coalition for the Homeless and Southern Legal Counsel, the Gainesville firm that filed the lawsuit.

Rolle, who was formerly homeless himself, was walking through a downtown St Petersburg park that is frequented by transients. He noticed that several men had black eyes, busted lips and were limping.

At first, people wouldn't talk. But Rolle "overheard a couple of conversations about the beatdown," and started asking questions.

Several men explained that promoters and others from shefights.net recruited homeless men for the female domination fetish videos. The men were taken to a nearby townhome, where women beat them while someone videotaped the session. Sometimes, the men told Rolle, they were handcuffed or shackled and whipped or flogged.

The men's accounts correspond with the content on the website, which gives brief descriptions of each video for sale. For instance, a four-minute long video promises that "Denise loves to fight bare-knuckle because she can cause so much more pain that way. She challenged the guy to step outside for a no-rules, bare-fisted fight and proceed to break his nose, beat him up, and leave him sprawled on the ground in pain."

The lawsuit said that said one woman fought 20-year-old Kyle Shaw and "used him as a punching bag," resulting in back injuries and a dislocated arm for Shaw. The other plaintiff, 37-year-old George Grayson, was videotaped on numerous occasions. Grayson said he was whipped and suffered multiple lacerations on his back.

Shaw and Grayson's lawsuit claims that Williams, the production company and the women who administered the beatings violated Florida's hate crime laws, which prohibits crimes based on homeless status, among other things.

"Defendants chose to solicit, assault and batter plaintiffs because they were homeless, and plaintiffs suffered injuries so severe as to evidence a hatred and contempt for people who are homeless," Chonin wrote in the lawsuit.

Williams, the website manager, said Rolle "bought that testimony" from the homeless men.

Rolle denies this and on Tuesday, played an audiotape of other homeless men discussing how they had been beaten for money. Rolle said he spoke with other men who suffered broken ribs, fractured skulls and torn ligaments after the performances.

Rolle said he is not surprised that homeless men would jump at a chance to make money - because of the bad economy, day labour has all but dried up, he said.

Social welfare advocates say such videos - including the Bumfights series, which features homeless men brawling in exchange for money and other incentives - dehumanise and demonise the homeless.

"I think we've become callous and indifferent enough that anything goes," said Rolle. "The environment is ripe for this sort of thing to happen."

AP

meet the fighters from shefights.net: Cindy, Danica, Mikaela, Julie Carmella, Moriah



Special News Update from the Owner

Many of you have come here in response to inaccurate and libelous stories about us in the media. We have chosen not to comment in the media because, unlike our accusers, our case is solid and we prefer to prosecute this in the courts where we have the advantage of law and facts. I will just say that there is no truth to the allegations, the testimony is perjured and paid for by the organizer of the suit, and the attempt right now is to harass us in the media in an attempt to shake us down before this goes to trial. We won't be intimidated, and these allegations against us will be disproved.

Originally Posted by genghis61

"What type of society would allow this to happen?" said Neil Chonin, the lawyer for the homeless men. "This company preyed on people who are desperate."

Chonin and area homeless advocates said there are many more men who were assaulted in exchange for cash and that some were injured so badly that they were hospitalised

not a new concept though, haven't there been similar cases of old/homeless beaten up for youtube etc? And plenty of crap movies about people being caught/released to be hunted down by wealthy 'hunters'

fantastic, they have whips?

Just like bumfights.com (or something like that)

Originally Posted by genghis61

And plenty of crap movies about people being caught/released to be hunted down by wealthy 'hunters'

You mean Hard Target with Van Damme isn't the only movie with that (ridiculous) story?

Reminds me of the fuss that was made over dwarf throwing. Is that illegal now or will we be seeing it in the forthcoming Olympics?

Imagine the uproar if it was even suggested that homeless women were being paid to be beaten up on film.

Let's see, they are adults, so they had the capacity to make a valid contract, they were offered $50 and they accepted, they allowed the women to beat on them (performance), and they were paid (money is legal consideration). So what's the problem? These homeless people thinking they are entitled to rescind this contract is silly, and any competent judge should throw this silly case out of court.
capacity-Offer-acceptance-performance and consideration are the legal terms and none are lacking here.

Allowing the State to second guess the morality of contracts adults voluntarily enter is just another step down the road towards the loss of freedom in a nanny state.

^

i agree.

Damn. Guy gets paid 50 bucks to get beat up! I know guys pay women big bucks to tie them up, gag them and whip their asses.

Originally Posted by BobR

capacity-Offer-acceptance-performance and consideration are the legal terms and none are lacking here.

Allowing the State to second guess the morality of contracts adults voluntarily enter is just another step down the road towards the loss of freedom in a nanny state.

The problem here is that any contract made under duress is considered invalid, which is only right since it cannot be fair that someone is held to a contract they signed with a gun pointed to their head.

The definition of duress is continually being stretched by opportunists, however,.

Originally Posted by Norton

Damn. Guy gets paid 50 bucks to get beat up! I know guys pay women big bucks to tie them up, gag them and whip their asses.

How come you get to know Conservative politicians?

Originally Posted by Thormaturge

How come you get to know Conservative politicians?

I'm long standing registered Republican I'll have you know.

yes, imagine if someone under duress - from mounting bills ,rent ,hunger etc ,
signed up to be : shouted at ,ordered about all day , forced to get on thier knees and scrub , cook foul smelling food ,and be nice to pig ignorant customers for 40 + a week for $5 an hour .
Then their case will be thrown straight out of court , because Mc Donalds etc do it routinely .

^^

A man who likes plenty of bush.

Originally Posted by HollyGoodhead

Originally Posted by genghis61

And plenty of crap movies about people being caught/released to be hunted down by wealthy 'hunters'

You mean Hard Target with Van Damme isn't the only movie with that (ridiculous) story?

I'm ashamed to say i have seen that movie, just couldn't remember who was in it I thought it might have been Chuck Norris; the one I was thinking of was on cable tv recently, truly dreadful 'Hydra' - 4 people set on to an island to be hunted down by 4 wealthy hunters - but there is also a large multi-headed snake. Truly dreadful, but so bad I had to watch. And an old one 'Turkey Shoot' had a similar storyline.

Originally Posted by Koojo

Imagine the uproar if it was even suggested that homeless women were being paid to be beaten up on film.

Or homeless negro's

Well i like your videos and i hope when and if you do come back screen everybody properly because a fetish is a fetish and your site was the site who wouldnt want dem beatings from beautiful women and that tall brutha Jay his videos actualy got me watching your videos i was like Ooh daum LOL

...FOD...