6 Startling Takeaways from New Girls Gone Wild Exposé: Accounts of Underage Exploitation, Coercion and More

Sex. Money. Control.

The curtain is being lifted on Girls Gone Wild in a new three-part docuseries that dives into the infamous adult entertainment franchise.

Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story offers a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the series, which went bankrupt in 2013 after — as the new documentary shows — 15 years of selling videos exploiting girls and their bodies for money and entertainment.

The series, which premiered Tuesday, Dec. 3, on Peacock, includes investigators, former employees and even some of the women featured in the films, who say their lives were forever altered by appearing on the tapes.

The new documentary also includes the first in-depth, in-person interview in nearly a decade with Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, who has been living in Mexico for nearly a decade after pleading “no contest” in a case connected to child abuse and prostitution charges connected to Girls Gone Wild.

Here are six of the major takeaways from The Untold Story.

Many of the girls taped for Girl Gone Wild were underage

For years, girls were being taped for Girls Gone Wild who could not legally consent to explicit acts.

One woman who was filmed while on spring break at Lake Havasu in 1999 was able to have her image removed from a Girls Gone Wild tape after she was filmed while underage.

After a 2003 raid, authorities found at least footage of at least 30 more girls who were underage when they were filmed for Girls Gone Wild.

In the aftermath, Girls Gone Wild employees filmed themselves checking women’s identification to ensure they were 18 years old before asking them to consent to any sort of explicit act.

Some women were allegedly pressured into hardcore sex acts

Though Girls Gone Wild was marketed as videos of girls flashing their breasts, many of the tapes included hardcore sex scenes that some women claim they were coerced into filming.

Many of these scenes allegedly happened on the famous Girls Gone Wild bus. “Whatever they could say, they would say it to get you on that bus,” said Janet, one of the many women who spoke out in the docuseries.

Another woman named Danielle, who also boarded the bus, claimed a cameraman blocked the door to the room she was in as he encouraged her to take part in sex acts. 

“I felt like if I didn’t comply, things could go really badly for me,” she said.

A third woman named Jordan alleged crew members told girls they wanted something in return for giving them alcohol. 

Employees were encouraged to exploit women as much as possible

In leaked audio from a 2005 training session for Girls Gone Wild employees, high-ranking employees can be heard encouraging prospective employees to get women on camera having sex with each other.

“We want to avoid what we see a lot of, which is just the camera goes on, the girl flashes the camera, the camera goes off, and that’s all we got. We go to the tape and it’s like, ‘That can’t be all we’ve got,’ ” said one person, described as the VP of Mantra Films.

“That’s not what we want,” they added. “We want a longer scene.”

The individual also applauded those who can get girls to expose themselves who had previously expressed reluctance to do so, adding, “Don’t take no for an answer.”

Also, cameramen were reportedly instructed to “be aggressive” with the girls and were ordered to “be persistent” because it would pay off “more often times than not.”

Joe Francis denies claims that he crossed a line with Girls Gone Wild girls

Several people have accused Francis of crossing a line with the young women who were connected to Girls Gone Wild, including a journalist.

One girl who spoke with Panama City police in 2003 claimed Joe asked her and another girl if they wanted to touch his genitals, and forced her to put her hand there even though she declined. She was allegedly underage when this occurred.

“Joe doesn’t have any boundaries whatsoever with anyone, especially with girls,” said former cameraman Mark Schmitz. “I got him literally on tape lifting a girl’s shirt up. It’s horrible to watch that stuff.”

Schmitz recalled “at least five different instances” in which Francis was inappropriate with women, including on the Girls Gone Wild bus.

In the docuseries, Francis claimed he only had consensual sex with adult women.

Joe Francis and Girls Gone Wild were in legal trouble

Francis and Girls Gone Wild have faced lots of legal trouble, much of which resulted from the adult entertainment franchise visiting Panama City in 2003.

The founder’s first arrest occurred in 2003 for racketeering, a charge that was later dismissed after authorities botched the investigation. That same year, members of his crew, including Schmitz, faced charges related to child prostitution and child pornography.

In September 2006, Francis pleaded guilty to three counts of producing visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct without keeping records of each performer. He was fined $2.1 million and ordered to do 200 hours of community service.

In 2007, Francis was held in contempt by a judge over a civil lawsuit filed over the incident that triggered the 2003 racketeering charges in Panama City. He was sent to jail after allegedly refusing to settle the case, and released in 2008.

Four women joined a lawsuit in 2011 against Francis and Girls Gone Wild, accusing them of battery, sexual exploitation, coercing them into prostitution while underage and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Some of the women accused Francis of pressuring them to flash their breasts on camera, being coerced into doing a sex scene or being forced to touch Francis’ genitals when they were between the ages of 13 and 16.

Francis ultimately represented himself in the trial. The all-female jury did not opt to award any money to the women who sued him.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Joe Francis fled the country after assault arrest

Francis has been living in Mexico for several years now after being arrested in 2011 for imprisoning three women at his Hollywood home and assaulting one of them.

The Girls Gone Wild founder was sentenced to serve 270 days in prison but fled the U.S. in 2015.

Now, Francis is living on a 45,000-square-foot property in Punta Mita, Mexico, where he says some of the Girls Gone Wild stuff was filmed.

Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story is streaming now on Peacock.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.