Mario Ambrose Antoine, 33, of Raymore, is facing a 21-count federal indictment alleging that he tricked women into having sex with him. Missouri Department of CorrectionsBY TONY RIZZO Kansas City Star
A Raymore man is accused of having sex with dozens of women after he duped them into believing they were acting in pornographic movies.
Federal prosecutors in Kansas City said 33-year-old Mario Ambrose Antoine was a former wedding photographer who has victimized women since at least 2011.
Antoine allegedly promised to pay the women tens of thousands of dollars after they signed contracts and engaged in videotaped sexual activity with him.
He was arrested Monday after a federal grand jury indicted him on 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts of cyberstalking, two counts of online enticement, two counts of making false statements to federal agents, and single counts of obstructing justice, extortion and false registration of a domain name.
He is being held in federal custody pending a detention hearing Thursday.
In a motion opposing bond for Antoine, federal prosecutors said he serially raped dozens of women throughout the Kansas City area.
The charges in the indictment involve six specific victims, but authorities said Monday that the investigation is ongoing and more potential victims are being identified.
According to the indictment, Antoine created online aliases, promoting himself as a talent manager, photographer or videographer.
He claimed to work for fictitious companies with names like “Playboy Worldwide,” “Playboy Asia” and “Dash Agency.”
He told women that the companies managed overseas pornography websites.
Beginning in August 2011, Antoine allegedly “auditioned” dozens of of women for possible employment with the fictitious companies by inducing them to engage in sexual and pornographic activity, according to prosecutors.
To make the business seem legitimate, Antoine allegedly used forged and false documents, including forged checks and tax forms.
When some of the women complained about not being paid, Antoine allegedly sent sexually explicit images of them to their employers and people they knew.
According to court documents outlining the alleged scheme: Women were contacted on Facebook by someone who identified themselves as “Nikki.”
They would be complimented on their looks and asked if they were interested in modeling. Nikki would bring up adult modeling and tell the women they could make tens of thousands of dollars posing for pictures and videos that would only be available on private websites in other countries.
Women, girls - when a complete stranger compliments your looks, he wants something, and it's probably you. Smile, accept the compliment and walk away; have nothing more to do with him.
Interested women were instructed to go to a house in Raymore where the videotaped sexual activity would occur.
According to the indictment, when one victim complained about not being paid, Antoine told her that she could either have sex with him or pay him $9,000 to not have their previously recorded videos made public.
The woman went to his home and had sex, according to the allegations.
When another woman contacted him because she hadn’t been paid, Antoine allegedly sent the nude pictures of her to her employer.
Yet another victim had nude images sent to her boyfriend, according to the indictment.
Antoine was previously prosecuted by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office on charges of stealing by deceit and unlawful merchandising practices related to his wedding photography business.
He was convicted in September 2013. His probation was revoked in December, and he was released from prison last month, according to prosecutors.
Anyone who thinks they may be a victim of Antoine is asked to call the Kansas City office of the FBI at 816-512-8200.
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