Marc Collins-Rector
{{Short description|American businessman and convicted sex offender}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marc Collins-Rector
| image = Marc Collins-Rector.jpg
| caption = Collins-Rector's mugshot, taken in 2007
| birth_name = Mark John Rector
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|10|16}}
| birth_place = United States of America
| other_names = Mark Collins
Morgan Von Phoenix
| occupation = Businessman
}}
Marc John Collins-Rector ({{ne|Rector}}; born October 16, 1959) is an American-born businessman and convicted sex offender, 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.
Early life
Collins-Rector was born Mark John Rector. He changed his name to Marc Collins-Rector in 1998.{{Cite news|last1=Menn|first1=Joseph|last2=Miller|first2=Gregg|date=May 7, 2000|title=How a Visionary Venture on the Web Unraveled|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-may-07-mn-27448-story.html}}
Business career
In 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 $100 million before increasing competition led to bankruptcy. Rector and business partner Chad Shackley founded Concentric Network, an early ISP, in 1991.{{cite web |url=http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Registrant.asp?CIK=1007304 | title = Concentric Network Corp, SEC filings |access-date=2014-04-24 |publisher=SEC Info }}{{cite web | url = http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_46/b3655182.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000817234338/http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_46/b3655182.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 17, 2000 |title=Digital Entertainment Network: Startup or Non-Starter? |date=1999-11-14 |first1=Ronald |last1=Grover |first2=Richard |last2=Siklos |access-date=2014-04-24 |work=BusinessWeek |publisher=Bloomberg L.P.}}{{cite web|last =Dibbell |first =Julian|title =The Decline and Fall of an Ultra-Rich Online Gaming Empire|publisher =Wired|date =2008-11-24|url =https://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-12/ff_ige?currentPage=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202150426/http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-12/ff_ige|archive-date=2008-12-02|access-date =2014-04-24}}
= DEN founding =
{{main|Digital Entertainment Network}}
Rector and Shackley sold Concentric in 1995 and, using money raised from the sale, as well as close to $100{{nbsp}}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.{{cite web|title=Fast Company |url=http://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/11/den_chads_world_marc_collins_rector_1.php |date=2007-11-05 |first1=John |last1=Gorenfeld |first2=Patrick |last2=Runkle |access-date=2014-04-24 |work=Radar Online |publisher=American Media |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117004139/http://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/11/den_chads_world_marc_collins_rector_1.php |archive-date=2008-01-17 |url-status=dead }}
Child enticement conviction
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.{{Cite web|first1=Ellie|last1=Hall|first2=Nicolas Medina|last2=Mora|first3=David|last3=Noriega|url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/found-the-elusive-man-at-the-heart-of-the-hollywood-sex-abus#.ecPgZqbEqB|title = Found: The Elusive Man At The Heart Of The Hollywood Sex Abuse Scandal|date = June 26, 2014|website =BuzzFeed}} At those parties, Collins-Rector and others were alleged to have engaged in sexual assaults against teenaged boys.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/elijah-wood-denies-personal-knowledge-896754|title=Elijah Wood Denies Personal Knowledge of Child Sex Abuse in Hollywood (Exclusive)|last=Abramovitch|first=Seth|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=May 23, 2016|access-date=October 10, 2017}}
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.{{Cite web|first=Hunter|last=Schwarz|title = Mystery Man At Center Of Alleged Hollywood Sex Ring Has Vanished|url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/mystery-man-at-center-of-alleged-hollywood-sex-ring-has-vani#.buNX4ENlED|website = BuzzFeed|date=April 24, 2014|access-date = January 20, 2016}} 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. Guns, machetes and child pornography were found in the house.
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.{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/marc-collins-rector-and-the-bryan-singer-lawsuit-2014-4|title=Singer Lawsuit Is Tied To Marc Collins-Rector, Infamous Child Abuser Of The Dot-Com Boom|last=Edwards|first=Jim|date=April 18, 2014|work=Business Insider|access-date=10 October 2017}} He admitted luring five minors across state lines for sexual purposes.{{cite news | url = https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-14-den-head-pleads_x.htm | title = Ex-DEN executive admits transporting minors for sex |date=June 14, 2004|access-date=April 24, 2014|newspaper=USA Today |publisher=Gannett Company |agency=Associated Press}} He received credit for time that he had served in a Spanish jail and was registered as a sex offender under a weekly supervision.
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.{{Cite web|title=From The Magazine : Radar Online |url=http://www.radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/11/den_chads_world_marc_collins_rector_1-print.php |date=April 18, 2008|access-date=January 20, 2016|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418073324/http://www.radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/11/den_chads_world_marc_collins_rector_1-print.php |archive-date=April 18, 2008 }} He subsequently renounced his US citizenship and has not since returned to the United States.An Open Secret, 2014; Amy Berg. In 2007, he was photographed in London, and in 2008 was living in the Dominican Republic.{{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bryan-singer-sex-abuse-case-699828|title=Bryan Singer Sex Abuse Case: The Troubling History Behind the Accusations|last=Masters|first=Kim|date=April 30, 2014|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=11 October 2017}} {{as of|2014}}, he lives in Antwerp and uses the names "Mark Collins" and "Morgan Von Phoenix".
Later career
Collins-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.{{Cite web|url = https://bitcoinfoundation.org/board-election-results-announcement/|title = bitcoinfoundation.org - Board Election Results Announcement|date = 2014-05-09|website = bitcoinfoundation.org}} 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.{{cite web |publisher=VNU Business Press |title=Dotcom founders still in Spanish jail |url=http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2120349/dotcom-founders-spanish-jail |first=Nick |last=Farrell |date=2002-10-10 |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217055703/http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2120349/dotcom-founders-spanish-jail|archive-date=2005-12-17}}{{cite news |title=A DEN OF INIQUITY; AFTER 3-YEAR EXILE, WEB EXEC FACES PERV CHARGES |url=https://nypost.com/2003/11/11/a-den-of-iniquity-after-3-year-exile-web-exec-faces-perv-charges/ |access-date=June 14, 2014|work=New York Post |publisher=News Corporation |first=Stephen |last=Lynch |date=November 11, 2003}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins-Rector, Marc}}
Category:American media executives
Category:American telecommunications industry businesspeople
Category:Businesspeople from Florida
Category:Fugitives wanted by the United States
Category:Fugitives wanted on sex crime charges
Category:American LGBTQ businesspeople
Category:People extradited from Spain
Category:Foreign nationals imprisoned in Spain
Category:People extradited to the United States
Category:People who renounced United States citizenship