Gay porn star Austin Wolf pleads guilty to child sex crime

Austin Wolf, a well-known star of gay porn, is facing at least 10 years behind bars after admitting enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Wolf, whose real name is Justin Heath Smith, was arrested a year ago, following an FBI investigation. Last week, it was suggested that he intended to plead guilty.

During a court hearing in New York on Friday (20 June), the New York Post quoted 44-year-old Smith saying: “I induced a 15-year-old [boy] to engage in a sex act. I don’t remember [whether] through text or [social media] but phones were definitely used. I know what I was doing was wrong.”

Shedding tears, he went on to say. “I apologise, I don’t blame anyone else for my conduct… I take full 100 per cent responsibility for my actions and I am prepared for the consequences.”

Last week, Wolf’s lawyer, Thomas H Andrykovitz asked the judge to move the hearing from Wednesday to Friday, saying it was “in the government’s best interest to ensure [Smith] receives the full effective assistance of counsel and that his plea is knowing and voluntary”.

Andrykovitz had an “unavoidable scheduling conflict” which prevented him from representing his client at the original hearing date. “Given my long-standing representation of Mr Smith, across a broad range of matters, my presence is essential to the integrity and effectiveness of the proceeding,” he said.

Judge Paul Engelmayer said Smith faced a mandatory 10-year prison sentence and a maximum punishment of life in jail. The sentencing hearing was scheduled for 9 September.

The official complaint in the case showed that the investigation began in April 2024 after a Telegram user was questioned by the FBI over child abuse material and revealed that he knew an account with which he was in contact belonged to the porn star.

A search of Smith’s Manhattan apartment turned up an SD card, phones and laptops “later discovered to contain approximately 200 videos” depicting child abuse material.

At the time of Smith’s arrest, US attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the adult performer had sent and received “hundreds of recordings”, including a “ghastly” video involving a pre-pubescent boy.

The assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, James Smith, said: “I want to make it clear, those who distribute child sexual abuse images prey upon the most vulnerable in our society. Each image is a crime scene, leaving lasting scars on innocent victims.

“The FBI is relentless in our pursuit of these perpetrators.  We will track them down, arrest them and ensure they face justice for the harm they cause.”

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