A “furry” activist has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking after a lengthy investigation which found he had held a woman hostage and forced her to produce OnlyFans content for other “furry” fetishists as well as sexually exploited a minor girl for the same reasons. Austin Taylor Koeckeritz, of River Falls, Wisconsin, faces up to life in prison.
Koeckertiz was initially arrested in August of 2022 after his adult victim had managed to find a way to alert her friend and sister to her captivity. The two then went to the police, who raided the residence.
According to documents submitted by the Federal Defender Service on behalf of Koeckertiz in February of 2023, Koeckertiz and the victim are said to have initially met as business partners. The two launched an entity called The Boring Company, taking the same name as the entity owned by X CEO Elon Musk, of whom Koeckeritz was reportedly a fan. But while Musk’s company focuses on novel inventions and infrastructure, Koeckertiz’s was centered around advocating for and providing resources to “furries.”
Furries are a community of individuals who enjoy fantasy materials featuring anthropomorphic animal characters. Some enthusiasts will spend thousands of dollars creating customized “suits” to take on the appearance of their favorite animal character, and many incorporate the characters into sexual or pornographic acts.
Koeckeritz’s victim was made to dress in a furry suit resembling a black and white-furred wolf while making erotic content, while Koeckeritz had his own costume taking on the appearance of a black and blue-furred wolf.
Koeckertiz’s Boring Company would function as a pimp-like entity which would have the victim make sexually explicit content for OnlyFans and other erotic subscription websites and then take a portion of the profits. But the victim told investigators she quickly lost her freedom, and was imprisoned in a room and forced to make videos daily. Koeckeritz would begin taking the entirety of her earnings, and refused to allow the victim contact with her family or friends.
The victim was pressured to make a minimum of $1,000 per day in the sex trade, and was coerced to make erotic content even when she was ill. According to court documents, the victim was only allowed “time off” if she recruited other young women to work for Koeckeritz from the local college.
Before the first police interview, the victim said Koeckeritz had poured hot cooking grease on her. In another terrifying incident she recounted to police, Koeckeritz chased her around the house with an AR-15.
But Koeckeritz had a second victim — a female relative who was just 14 or 15 years old at the time. Koeckeritz had exposed her to sexually explicit content, with text messages being presented in court reportedly showing that he had been encouraging her to enter the “furry” sex trade.
As part of his business ventures, Koeckeritz operated social media accounts targeted towards the furry community — all of which are still live, but have been inactive since August of 2022 when he was arrested.
On TikTok, Koeckeritz’s furry-centered channel boasted a following of 160,000, and featured videos of Koeckeritz and a female who appears to be his victim. The TikTok handle is not being shared by Reduxx out of concern for the privacy of the victims, both of whom were regularly featured on Koeckeritz’s social media in an apparent effort to advertise them to other furries.
Most of the videos featured lighthearted themes such as jokes and dancing. In the videos where the female furry appeared, she is usually seen wearing her mask, but normal clothing. Most of the outfits she appears in are revealing, prominently showing off her lean form.
A child believed to be the minor victim also appears on Koeckeritz’s social media in the form of TikToks and reels posted to Instagram. Though the girl is obviously underage, multiple comments from adult viewers were left requesting her contact information.
On Koeckeritz’s Instagram, which had 13,000 followers, he reposted much of his content from TikTok as well as furry-related memes and photos. Some were distinctly erotic, and feature a theme of two male furry characters engaged in sexual activity.
His content also veered into political subjects, with Koeckeritz frequently posting in support of trans rights and gay rights.
While Koeckertiz is said to have had sexual involvement with women, poetry found by Reduxx written by him in 2019 suggests he had a number of male love interests he professed affection for.
In one poem, titled “To Younger Me,” Koeckeritz laments over three men he had romantic interest in as a teen. In another, titled “He’s My Best Friend,” Koeckeritz identifies himself as gay in a poem about a male friend he identified an interest in.
“People use gay like a bad thing. Like loving someone is an insult,” he writes. “He is my best friend. He made me feel like tigers and stripes lived in the forest instead of my skin. I’ll never forget when you kissed my palm and said you’d always be here.”
His author profile on Letterpile states: “Austin Koeckeritz is always up for a challenge, especially when it means helping others,” before launching into a paragraph on life advice.
“All things are but a temporary state of being. Everything passes. Happiness. Suffering. Everything, the good and the bad altogether, is temporary. Nothing lasts indefinitely, not even this.”
On November 30 of 2023, the US Department of Justice announced the court had accepted a guilty plea from Koeckertiz to one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and another count of trafficking of a minor.
“Sex trafficking continues to be prevalent because traffickers see the profits they can make from exploiting the vulnerable victims they target,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement issued after the guilty pleas were entered.
“This type of abuse — particularly of minors — will not be tolerated. The Justice Department remains committed to prosecuting human trafficking offenses and standing up for the victims exploited by these abusers.”