A man who posted thousands of nude and sexually explicit photos of women and several men on his website without their permission, then set up a second website where they had to pay up to $350 to get the photos taken down, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in state prison.
Kevin Bollaert, 28, was convicted in February on 27 felony counts of extortion and identity theft. According to state Attorney General Kamala Harris, the case marked the first criminal prosecution of a cyber-exploitation website operator in the country.
“My life has gone through a down-spiral,” one of Bollaert’s victims told Judge David Gill. The woman said her mother refuses to talk to her because of the shame she brought on her family.
Another victim, Nicole, said: “I have a hard time acknowledging Mr. Bollaert as a human being. I can’t get away from the devastation.”
Deputy Attorney General Tawnya Boulan Austin told the judge that Bollaert “vilified the Internet” and “violated a moral social compact” out of greed.
“His Internet card has now been revoked,” the prosecutor said. “He is a master manipulator and schemer.”
Bollaert’s parents — asking the judge for leniency — said their son was remorseful for what he did.
“We’re not proud of what he did. We don’t condone what he did,” Bollaert’s father said.
Defense attorney Emily Rose-Weber said her client was immature when he tried to cash in on the website and had a lot to offer in the future.
“He has done many good things up until now,” Bollaert’s attorney told the judge.
But Gill called Bollaert’s conduct “outrageous.”
“He made some hard-to-comprehend choices,” the judge said.
During the trial, 21 victims testified that they were embarrassed and humiliated when their private nude photos and personal identifying information turned up on a now-defunct website called “yougotposted.com.”
Bollaert allowed users to upload 10,170 private explicit photographs anonymously to “yougotposted.com” between December 2012 and September 2013.
Unlike other “revenge porn” sites, “yougotposted.com” prompted users to also share personal identifying information about the subject in the photo, including name, age and address, according to prosecutors.
The attorney general said Friday’s sentence “makes clear there will be severe consequences for those that profit from the exploitation of victims online.”
“Sitting behind a computer, committing what is essentially a cowardly and criminal act, will not shield predators from the law or jail,” Harris said. “We will continue to be vigilant and investigate and prosecute those who commit these deplorable acts.”
— City News Service