Marc John Collins-Rector (born October 16, 1959) is an American-born businessman who founded Digital Entertainment Network, an online streaming video broadcaster and dot-com failure. In 2004, he was convicted of child sexual abuse which was highlighted in the 2014 documentary An Open Secret.
Marc Collins-Rector | |
|---|---|
 Collins-Rector's mugshot, taken in 2007 | |
| Born | Mark John Rector October 16, 1959 |
| Other names | Mark Collins Morgan Von Phoenix |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Early life
editCollins-Rector was born Mark John Rector. He changed his name to Marc Collins-Rector in 1998.[1][2]
Business career
editIn the early 1980s, Rector founded Telequest, a Florida-based telecommunications company. In 1984, he founded World TravelNet, a company which electronically coordinated cruises and tours; its affiliate, World ComNet, was floated on the Vancouver Stock Exchange in 1987. Its valuation briefly peaked at $100 million before increasing competition led to bankruptcy.[1] Rector and business partner Chad Shackley founded Concentric Network, an early ISP, in 1991.[3][4][5]
DEN founding
editRector and Shackley sold Concentric in 1995 and, using money raised from the sale, as well as close to $100 million of investor and venture capital, formed an early Internet video media content delivery company, Digital Entertainment Network. Collins-Rector was the co-founder and chairman of DEN, which exhausted its funding following a failed IPO bid and collapsed amidst allegations of Collins-Rector having sexually abused boys, coercing them with drugs and guns.[6]
Child enticement conviction
edit_(cropped)_(cropped).jpg)
Collins-Rector and his business partners, Chad Shackley and Brock Pierce, operated DEN out of a Los Angeles mansion. There, they held parties attended by Hollywood's gay A-list.[2] At those parties, Collins-Rector and others were alleged to have engaged in sexual assaults against teenaged boys.[7]
In August 2000, a New Jersey federal grand jury indicted Collins-Rector on criminal charges that he had transported minors across state lines for the purpose of having sex with them.[8] After his indictment, Collins-Rector fled to Spain together with Shackley and Pierce. Interpol arrested the three men on May 17, 2002, in a house in the Spanish city of Marbella. Shackley and Pierce were released without being criminally charged.[2] Guns, machetes and child pornography were found in the house.[7]
Collins-Rector fought extradition proceedings for two years before returning to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to eight charges of child enticement and registered as a sex offender.[9] He admitted luring five minors across state lines for sexual purposes.[10] He received credit for time that he had served in a Spanish jail and was registered as a sex offender under a weekly supervision.[10]
In 2006, a U.S. District Court granted Collins-Rector special permission to go to the United Kingdom to receive treatment for a brain tumor.[11] He subsequently renounced his US citizenship and has never returned to the United States.[12] In 2007, he was photographed in London, and in 2008 was living in the Dominican Republic.[13] As of 2014[update], he lives in Antwerp and uses the names "Mark Collins" and "Morgan Von Phoenix".[2]
Later career
editCollins-Rector was a silent partner in the MMORPG service company IGE, which was founded by ex-DEN VP Pierce - who was chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation.[6][14] IGE initially used an address in the city of Marbella, Spain, where Collins-Rector, Shackley and Pierce shared a villa until it was raided by Interpol in 2002.[15][16]
References
edit- ^ a b Menn, Joseph; Miller, Gregg (May 7, 2000). "How a Visionary Venture on the Web Unraveled". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c d Hall, Ellie; Mora, Nicolas Medina; Noriega, David (June 26, 2014). "Found: The Elusive Man At The Heart Of The Hollywood Sex Abuse Scandal". BuzzFeed.
- ^ "Concentric Network Corp, SEC filings". SEC Info. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ Grover, Ronald; Siklos, Richard (1999-11-14). "Digital Entertainment Network: Startup or Non-Starter?". BusinessWeek. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ Dibbell, Julian (2008-11-24). "The Decline and Fall of an Ultra-Rich Online Gaming Empire". Wired. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ a b Gorenfeld, John; Runkle, Patrick (2007-11-05). "Fast Company". Radar Online. American Media. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ a b Abramovitch, Seth (May 23, 2016). "Elijah Wood Denies Personal Knowledge of Child Sex Abuse in Hollywood (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
- ^ Schwarz, Hunter (April 24, 2014). "Mystery Man At Center Of Alleged Hollywood Sex Ring Has Vanished". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ Edwards, Jim (April 18, 2014). "Singer Lawsuit Is Tied To Marc Collins-Rector, Infamous Child Abuser Of The Dot-Com Boom". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Ex-DEN executive admits transporting minors for sex". USA Today. Gannett Company. Associated Press. June 14, 2004. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
- ^ "From The Magazine : Radar Online". April 18, 2008. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ An Open Secret, 2014; Amy Berg.
- ^ Masters, Kim (April 30, 2014). "Bryan Singer Sex Abuse Case: The Troubling History Behind the Accusations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "bitcoinfoundation.org - Board Election Results Announcement". bitcoinfoundation.org. 2014-05-09.
- ^ Farrell, Nick (2002-10-10). "Dotcom founders still in Spanish jail". VNU Business Press. Archived from the original on 2005-12-17. Retrieved 2014-04-24.
- ^ Lynch, Stephen (November 11, 2003). "A DEN OF INIQUITY ; AFTER 3-YEAR EXILE, WEB EXEC FACES PERV CHARGES". New York Post. News Corporation. Retrieved June 14, 2014.