If he knew about their ages before hand and proceeded to shoot anyway, then he is liable for criminal charges.
Francis’ firm, Mantra Films Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif., company, was sentenced to pay $1.6 million in criminal fines for failing to create and maintain age and identity records for films it produced.
Girls Gone Wild has admitted to hiring performers, and producing and distributing sexually explicit video materials during 2002 and part of 2003 while systematically violating the record keeping and labeling laws. The companies also admitted that in at least two instances in 2002 in Panama City they filmed minors in sexually explicit scenes that were included in two commercially released DVDs.
Girls Gone Wild Founder Jailed
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/2007/040507FrancisJailed.html