Anyone reading this blog, knows exactly what I think of stupid
manipulative, pathetic tactics to control partners and previous partners. Make
no mistake that is what revenge porn is. It is an attempt to hold onto some
control over a partner usually who has left you.
On Tuesday, a California man, Kevin Bollaert, 27, the alleged co-founder
of ugotposted.com and changemyreputation.com, was arrested and charged with 31
counts of conspiracy and other felonies. This came after a five month probe.
The allegations are that he runs a revenge porn site and then he extorts
thousands of dollars from victims who want to have their pictures removed.
Reminder revenge porn is when someone posts a sexually explicit photo without
the consent of the person in the photo. The story was written by Damian
Dovarganes.
Dovarganes quotes court papers saying, Bollaert knew “lives are getting
ruined,” and “I feel bad about the whole thing and like I just don’t want to do
it anymore.” Big of him, after being charged and all.
The first site encouraged people to post photos of people with contact
information including address, phone numbers, and Facebook profiles. The second
site allowed victims to pay fees to have their photos removed. The posting of
the victims contact information of course resulted in the victims being
contacted by tons of people with harassing calls and messages. Court room
documents shared some of the complaints:
“Please help!! I am scared for my life!”
“People are calling my workplace and they obtained the information
through this site. I did not give permission for anyone to put up those
pictures or my personal information.”
“My phone has been going off every two minutes with strange men sending
inappropriate things to me. It’s disgusting.”
“I am getting nonstop harassing messages from people who have seen me on
here…Why others can ruin lives like this is beyond me.”
The site sent victims to the second site, changemyreputation.com, where
they could remove the pictures for a fee of up to $350. California Attorney
General Kamala Harris said forensic investigators found tens of thousands of
dollars in payments to a PayPal account linked to an email for the site. Harris
said, “This website published intimate photos of unsuspecting victims and
turned their public humiliation and betrayal into a commodity with the
potential to devastate lives.”
Of course, Bollaert and his partner who has not been charged declined to
comment. People are fighting back against the kind of people who would post
such information usually ex-boyfriends and husbands, but sometimes hackers.
Additionally, in October California made it a misdemeanor to post nude photos
of someone else online without their permission with the intent of causing
emotional distress or humiliation. Though, I’m not sure how you prove that. If
convicted, a person could serve six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Other
states are considering similar measures including Florida, Texas, Wisconsin,
Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
