In February the operator of the website ugotposted.com was found guilty. Now the sentence is clear: He has to be for 18 years in prison for 31 counts of identity theft, extortion, and conspiracy.
In its judgment, the Court in San Diego, California, remained just below the possible maximum sentence of 20 years. According to the indictment, the 28-year-old Kevin Bollaert earned with his "business model" 30 000 US dollars: he published on ugotposted.com intimate images of women and men given to him by the ex-partners at the end of the relationship for having revenge. He invited others posting the pictures including name, age, residence and a link to their Facebook profile. However, authorities say he ran afoul of state laws against identity theft, which prevent even simple personal information like names and addresses from being used "for any unlawful purpose, including with the intent to annoy or harass." At changemyreputation.com he offered to delete these pictures from the other website for a payment of $ 350.
Even before the verdict, which ran on identity theft and extortion, Kevin B. was sentenced to pay a fine in the amount of 385 000 US dollars for child pornography. The attorney of one victim announced in his blog post that the victim should have been a minor at the time of the shoot. Accordingly, the Court classified the images in two cases as child pornography, which contributed significantly to the amount of damages. It is also prohibited the defendants ever to publish pictures of the applicant again.
Evidence of the harassing effect was published in the state's complaint against Bollaert. One woman e-mailed Bollaert saying she started getting "nonstop harassing messages" after her photos went up on ugotposted. Another told him she was "scared for my life," continuing: "People are calling my work place and they obtained the information from this site! I did not give permission for anyone to put up those pictures or my personal information. I have contacted the police but these pictures need to come down! Please!"
One Jane Doe victim reported receiving dozens of Facebook and Instagram friend requests after she was featured on the site, as well as text messages with lewd photos and several phone calls, which made her "worried for her safety." Another woman had "over a hundred different sources" try to contact her after her information went up on ugotposted, and she ultimately changed her phone number.
This case shows that nobody can hide himself in the anonymity of the Internet. As soon as a case from a public prosecutor is opened the anonymity gets dropped and the fraudster ends up in the prison!!!