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{{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<br>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 company|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.<ref name="latimes-den-2000">{{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}}</ref><ref name="bf01"/>

==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 $100 million before increasing competition led to [[bankruptcy]].<ref name="latimes-den-2000"/> Rector and business partner [[Chad Shackley]] founded [[Concentric Network]], an early [[ISP]], in 1991.<ref name="secinfo-com-2007">{{cite web |url=http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Registrant.asp?CIK=1007304 | title = Concentric Network Corp, SEC filings |access-date=2014-04-24 |publisher=SEC Info }}</ref><ref name="businessweek-com-2007">{{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=[[Bloomberg Businessweek|BusinessWeek]] |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]]}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

=== 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 [[child sexual abuse|sexually abused boys]], [[coercion|coercing]] them with drugs and guns.<ref name="radar-com-2007">{{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 (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 }}</ref>

== Child enticement conviction ==
[[File:Brock Pierce at the SingularityU The Netherlands Summit 2016 (29033319263) (cropped) (cropped).jpg|150px|thumb|right|[[Brock Pierce]]]]
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]].<ref name="bf01">{{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]]}}</ref> At those parties, Collins-Rector and others were alleged to have engaged in sexual assaults against teenaged boys.<ref name="THR">{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name="buzzfeed.com">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="bf01" /> Guns, machetes and [[child pornography]] were found in the house.<ref name="THR"/>

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]].<ref name="BI02">{{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}}</ref> He admitted luring five minors across state lines for sexual purposes.<ref name="usatoday-den">{{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]]}}</ref> He received credit for time that he had served in a Spanish jail and was registered as a sex offender under a weekly supervision.<ref name="usatoday-den" />

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]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref> He subsequently renounced his US citizenship and has not since returned to the United States.<ref name="open">''An Open Secret'', 2014; Amy Berg.</ref> In 2007, he was photographed in [[London]], and in 2008 was living in the [[Dominican Republic]].<ref name="HW3">{{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}}</ref> {{as of|2014}}, he lives in [[Antwerp]] and uses the names "Mark Collins" and "Morgan Von Phoenix".<ref name="bf01"/>

== 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]].<ref name="radar-com-2007"/><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://bitcoinfoundation.org/board-election-results-announcement/|title = bitcoinfoundation.org - Board Election Results Announcement|date = 2014-05-09|website = bitcoinfoundation.org}}</ref> 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.<ref name="vnu-den-2007">{{cite web |publisher=[[Nielsen Holdings|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}}</ref><ref name="nypost-den-2007">{{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 (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] |first=Stephen |last=Lynch |date=November 11, 2003}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins-Rector, Marc}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[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:American gay men]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Gay businessmen]]
[[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]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Violence against men in the United States]]

Marc Collins-Rector - Revision history

87.242.199.10: Added information at top of page.