SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The prosecution has enough evidence to proceed with what is believed to be the first case against an operator of a “revenge porn” website, a Judge ruled on Monday.
Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, earlier pleaded not guilty to 31 felony counts including conspiracy, identity theft and extortion. The charges stemmed from his operation of UGotPosted.com, a revenge-porn site that encouraged users to upload personally identifiable nude or explicit images along with personal information including the subjects’ names, cities of residence and links to their Facebook profiles.
According to prosecutors, Bollaert then contacted the victims and demanded they pay as much as $350 to have the images removed. Authorities have said PayPal records indicate Bollaert received in a six-month period before voluntarily closing the website once he became aware of the criminal investigation.
The California state legislature outlawed revenge porn — so called because the practice often is undertaken in an effort to shame ex-lovers or others for whom the poster bears a grudge — in October 2013, classing the offense a misdemeanor.
Bollaert is not charged under the revenge porn statute. Instead, prosecutors chose to focus on more serious allegation. The site’s requirement that uploaders include the victim’s personal information led to the identity theft charges. The extortion charges arose from his alleged practice of demanding a fee in order to remove images that had been posted without the victims’ knowledge or permission.
Bollaert is not the only revenge porn operator accused of extortion in California. Casey E. Meyering, 28, was arrested Feb. 13 at his home in Tulsa, Okla. He faces five felony counts of extortion based on a similar scheme he employed with the website WinByState.com. In early June, Oklahoma extradited Meyering to stand trial in California.
Bollaert’s trial date has been set for July 16. Meyering awaits a court date.
