Rentboy CEO Jeffrey Hurant Breaks Silence, Also His Dad’s Got His Back

He hasn’t made any statements, at the urging of his lawyers, since the Rentboy raid in August and the federal indictments, but now former Rentboy CEO Jeffrey Hurant has spoken out via Facebook.

He’s basically urging friends to donate to his legal defense fund, and obviously he can’t say anything about the case, but still he expresses his emotions about the ordeal.

It is looking more and more like Durant will be the only one prosecuted in the case, with the six other defendants like taking plea deals, and as such, Durant’s legal expenses will be the steepest.

He writes:

I realize that I have been very quiet on Facebook since my arrest on August 25th. I have been advised by legal counsel not to make any public statements about the case. As any of you who know me can guess, this hasn’t been easy for me.

This ordeal has been devastating for me, my family, my ex-employees and all the people my company has helped through the years. I am very grateful for all the support I have gotten from friends far and wide throughout the crisis. I count my blessings every day.

The brilliant team at Sher Tremonte, LLP has been working tirelessly preparing my defense. Even though I have not been proven guilty of committing any crime, the government has seized all the assets that I can use to defend myself, so I am here asking for your financial help to insure that this case has the best legal minds working on it.

He asks that supporters donate to the legal defense fund here, where he’s so far raised $7,000 out of a hoped-for $200,000.

Meanwhile, of course, the majority of public opinion has seemed to reject this as a frivolous prosecution, and it remains to be seen what the real story might have been behind the government’s choice to come after Rentboy, after 17 years in business out in the open, on the internet.

Durant’s dad writes sweetly on the legal defense fund page in full support of his son.

While I’m not personally gay, I’ve always loved and accepted my son. Over the past 20 years I’ve come to understand that Rentboy was a place for people to post classified ads, no different from those that appeared in The Village Voice, NY Magazine, and other publications that ran similar ads in 1997. I assumed that our right to free speech protected those ads.
I came to believe that Jeffrey ran a business that helps people to live better and offers better safety to vulnerable people who need it.

I know that Jeffrey wants to express his feelings about the case, but he has been advised not to make any public statements. He needs your help. Homeland Security and the NYPD have seized his assets leaving him unable to even pay his attorneys. Defending this case is a very costly matter, and the stakes cannot be higher for Jeffrey and the other defendants. Public sentiment is almost overwhelmingly against this prosecution, but that won’t make it go away. I don’t want to believe that I live in a country where one can lose everything before guilt is proven.

Previously: EVERYONE SHOULD BE OUTRAGED ABOUT THE RENTBOY RAID, AND HERE’S WHY

6 thoughts on “Rentboy CEO Jeffrey Hurant Breaks Silence, Also His Dad’s Got His Back”

  1. He should take the plea deal. I don’t think a jury is going to be very sympathetic with a guy who was running a gay prostitution hook up site.

    1. though i Always used gayromeo for my ‘escort’s i do appreciate all the work he did and there’s nothing wrong with a gay prostitution hook up site you bigot!

      1. Did I say that I thought there was something wrong with a gay prostitution hook up site? My comment was that I didn’t think A JURY would be sympathetic to the guy’s occupation.

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