Joe Francis: 'Girls Gone Wild' Founder Convicted Of Sexual Assault

In the least-surprising news since Lindsay Lohan went back to rehab, “Douche of the Decade,” “Piece of human garbage” and “Girl Fighter Extraordinaire”  Joe Francis, the mastermind behind Girls Gone Wild, was found guilty Monday of false imprisonment, assault causing serious injury and dissuading a witness.

The charges stemmed from a January 2011 incident at the Supper Club in Los Angeles where Francis met three women. He led one woman to his limo and the other two followed. Prosecutors said that the women were under the impression they were getting a ride to their car. Francis’ bodyguard and driver allegedly produced sheriff’s badges and refused to let the women out of the limo.

An altercation broke out back at Francis’ house when he tried to separate one woman from the others. He then allegedly grabbed another woman by the hair and neck and slammed her head into the floor. The women were escorted out of the house and allegedly warned against calling authorities. They called the LAPD from the cab and met officers where their car was parked.

Nobody was shocked to hear the news. Patton Oswald gleefully spread the details with this tweet:

Even the “Bikini Model Videos” twitter account (@modelclip) happily chimed in:

This is not the first time Francis has been accused of assaulting women, but the charges have never amounted to much. A Beverly Hills fender bender that turned physical and the assault accusations from Playboy model Jayde Nicole are among the most interesting of his previous charges, which include everything from tax evasion to child molestation.

Huffington Post celebrity editor YouYoung Lee summed up most people’s thoughts on the current charges about as gently as possible on Huff Post Live:

“Yeah a guy that founded an entertainment industry by filming undera — uh girls you know exposing themselves isn’t going to have a bright future ahead of him I don’t think.”

Claire Hoffman gives a glimpse up Girls Gone Wild’s skirt in her Los Angeles Times profile on Francis. She says most girls go wild for a T-shirt, a pair of panties, or a trucker hat. But “Francis is often on the other side of the camera, asking sweetly if he can hold the girls’ tops, inquiring about their class schedules, chiding them for being ‘so naughty,’ saying he wants to see if they’ve shaved their genitals, begging them to play with their breasts and bend over to expose their thong underwear. They comply,” she reports.

Owner of Mantra Films, responsible for both the Girls Gone Wild and allegedly Guys Gone Wild franchises, Francis is reportedly worth $50 million. But his company GGW Brands LLC. filed for bankruptcy in February reporting more than $16 million in disputed claims.   

Francis was articulate as ever in his statement to E! News: “I have done nothing wrong! This is a total joke! It did not happen and that mentally challenged jury should be put in jail!”

The sentence hearing is scheduled for Wednesday May 8, and he faces YAY up to five years in YAY jail HOORAAAAYYYYYYY.