Posted on 04/03/2015 7:15:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In an unprecedented criminal case, Kevin Bollaert was found guilty of posting sexually explicit photos of women online to extort them
A San Diego man convicted of identity theft and extortion after posting more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos of women to his so-called "revenge porn" website was sentenced on Friday to 18 years behind bars.
The sentencing of Kevin Bollaert ended an all-day hearing where a number of victims told of the humiliation inflicted by his website. Bollaert burst into tears as he listened to testimony from his mother and victims.
The sentence was at the high end of the range; Bollaert faced a maximum of 20 years. In explaining his punishment, the judge noted that he stacked the sentencing terms based on the multiple victims.
Considering credits for good behavior, Bollaert could be eligible for parole after 10 years, the judge noted.
Bollaert also must pay $10,000 in restitution.
It was the first case of its type in the United States, and California was the first state to prosecute someone for posting humiliating pictures online. Bollaert was convicted of 27 counts of identity theft and extortion in connection to the thousands of photos posted online.
Once they were published, Bollaert would then demand hundreds of dollars from individuals to remove their photos through a second website he owned.
Prosecutors called Bollaert "vindictive" and claimed he took pleasure out of hurting his female victims with the internet being his "tool of destruction."
Kevin Bollaert, 27, has been charged with 31 felony counts for allegedly posting nude photos of women online, then charging the women to have the photos removed. NBC 7’s Megan Tevrizian talks with defense attorney Lindsey Mercer about why this is being called a landmark cases and what it could mean for similar cases going forward.
In court Friday, his parents told the judge their son has said he has shown remorse. "He has said many times he wishes he never made the website...If he could go back and change it all, he would," they said in a statement to the court.
One after another victims shared how they were damaged by Bollaert's actions. "It's just broken me on a level that's not describable," one woman told the court. "The only thing I have left is shame and anger."
Another explained how she is haunted by her photos being made public, saying,"If someone looks at me? Are they remembering me?" She also described her experience as a daily struggle.
A third victim said she has a hard time acknowledging Bollaert as a human being. The case centered on a now defunct website called YouGotPosted.com, created by Bollaert so ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends could submit embarrassing photos of victims for revenge. The photos also linked to victims’ social media accounts.
Prosecutors say those who wanted to get the pictures taken down were redirected to another one of Bollaert's sites, ChangeMyReputation.com. There, the victims were charged $300 to $350 to have their photos removed.
State law prohibits anyone from putting identifiable nude photos online after a breakup, punishable with $1,000 or six months in jail.
Rapists and 2nd degree murderer’s get less than this.
Bizarre.
Oh, the poor ladies had their privates shown on a website, after they had permitted the photos being taken. Get out the violins. Some poor old veteran here in town got beat to an inch of his life by dangerous thugs who got 180 days in jail.
18 years?
When a psychob***** accuses her ex of molesting a kid, the local news makes it a front page story. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous the charge is. His life is ruined.
When it turns out to be false ... nobody cares.
Why don’t THOSE people get 18 years? How are they any better than this guy?
I agree. What this creep did was reprehensible, but 18 years!! Five to seven years at hard labor, no parole, and a huge fine would be a tough sentence.
It ain't rocket science.
Many husbands may have hidden cameras. Posting on FaceBook to people they knew is really disgusting.
I must say that considering the minimal time others are required to serve for far more heinous offenses this seems excessive.
Merely to be this loathsome piece of $hit is a punishment in itself......18 years!?
I shall not, however, shed any tears for this scum.
Tough guy.
I tend to agree however what the article does not say is if the images were obtained overtly or covertly.
Not a lot of information here regarding how they were obtained other than some people sent them to his website. Maybe I missed it.
People do really stupid stuff on the Net. And X-wives/husbands and other couples can get brutally nasty. Especially the males who’ve been literally strafed by years of punitive sexually biased divorce type laws etc.
If these were obtained covertly, I see this as more serious. If overtly, everyone knows if ya post compromising stuff, it could easily make it to the Net as there are major AH’s like this individual everywhere.
If you read the story, this bastard ran a profit making business based on extortion. It wasn't just his girl friend. It was many women being gotten back at by vindictive x- husbands/boyfriends.
He wasn't just doing it for fun. He was making money doing it.
Screw him. He's just lucky as hell that the state locked him up before some really pissed off father got a hold of him.
If these were obtained covertly, I see this as more serious. If overtly, everyone knows if ya get recorded doing compromising stuff, it could easily make it's way to the Net as there are major AH’s like this individual everywhere.
I think it was the extortion and ID theft that got him the long sentence.
That certainly made it a crime.
I agree with you, the sentence was appropriate.
The pain he caused is real and to many women. Add more time for trying to profit from misery.
Make an example of him so the next loser thinks twice about doing something like this.
Indeed, maybe the husbands and boyfriends took photos without these women knowing.
Or maybe the women willingly allowed their photos to be taken.
Whatever happened, what this guy (and the exes of those women) did was terrible. Eighteen years does sound kind of steep, but the judge did say the number of women is what increased his sentence.
But he didn't kill or physically harm anybody and he didn't actually extort that much money. He only has to pay back about twenty grand from what I read. Now if he had priors, then close to twenty years would be fitting.
Well it sets a precedent for future cases. The despicable, disgusting things people do to other people on the internet is just out of control. Bullying, revenge porn, tormenting people into killing themselves, etc. There has to be consequences. It’s so easy for people to be calloused and merciless online. Yes people get themselves into stupid situations - these women have paid the price. But now this POS has to pay as well. Have a great 18 years, jack@ss.
Weren’t the Palin’s daughter or Dr. Laura similarly defamed that way? Nothing happened to the democrat perps.
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