Michigan woman gets $500K in revenge-porn case

DETROIT — In what might be Michigan's first revenge-pornography case resulting in a monetary judgment, a woman was awarded $500,000 this week after her ex-boyfriend posted nude photographs of her on multiple Internet sites.

Revenge-pornography cases usually involve someone else obtaining photos of a former partner and posting them on the Internet in a retaliatory matter.

Because of privacy concerns, the woman's identity was not disclosed to the Detroit Free Press by her lawyer, Kyle Bristow. Bristow said the defendant, the woman's ex-boyfriend, resides in Macomb County, Mich., but he declined to release his identity because it would identify his client.

"My client was tormented for a year and a half over this occurrence," he said, adding that the case is the first of its kind in Michigan. "Before I got involved, she tried to plead with these websites to remove the photos. It was like a horrific game of Whack a Ball. ... She was scared that she had a stalker out to get her. It affected her employment and her attendance at college. ... She's very happy with the results we've procured."

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According to court records from the Oakland County (Mich.) Circuit Court, Judge Martha Anderson awarded the sum Wednesday, which is set to accrue interest over time. Anderson also granted a permanent injunction against the ex-boyfriend, forcing him to immediately destroy and never republish the photos to third-party websites. If he does, Bristow said, he can be held in contempt and face prison or additional fines.

Bristow said the case began to unfold about a year and a half ago when a fake Gmail account was set up to impersonate the Oakland County woman. According to Bristow, the individual convinced a photographer who had taken private modeling photos of the woman to send them to him.

"The photographer fell for the trick, and he emailed the photographs to the email address," Bristow said. "After that happened, the photographs ended up on the Internet."

Bristow said the woman became aware that the photos were on different revenge-porn websites after her friends discovered them circulating around. Bristow, who has handled revenge-pornography cases in Ohio as well, said the sites usually post not only the victims' photos, but contact information for them and sometimes even their friends.

Bristow said once he filed the lawsuit, he sent a subpoena to Google, requesting the Internet protocol addresses linked to the account. Bristow said that when he obtained the info, he was able to link it back to the boyfriend who registered and authenticated the fake account with his cellphone number.

The victim testified against her ex-boyfriend and recounted the horrifying experience, Bristow said.

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"We are very happy with the swift progress of the case, and that the discovery process worked," he said.

Bristow said of the dozens of victims he has represented since 2012, 95% of them are women. Bristow said he and a handful of other lawyers have successfully worked to shut down revenge-pornography websites.

At that time, there were relatively no criminal statutes that applied to revenge-porn cases and law enforcement agencies lacked the resources and training to properly investigate them, Bristow said.

And although the number of sites has dwindled since then, Bristow said many revenge-porn photos are still posted on Tumblr, a popular social networking site.

Within the past year, a number of states — including Michigan — have passed laws that criminalize revenge pornography. According to the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a non-profit that advocates for legal and technological ways to fight online abuse, 34 states and the District of Columbia have revenge porn laws.

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In April, a bill criminalizing the posting of sexually explicit images on the Internet without the depicted person's consent was signed into law by Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley. Anyone found guilty of violating the law could face up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense. If a second violation occurs, the person could face up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000. The individual also could face separate charges in connection to the crime.

Both houses of the Michigan Legislature passed the bill earlier this year after sponsors of the legislation said they wanted to stop "cyber revenge" or "revenge porn," which they said is often meant to humiliate the person depicted and can harm a reputation.

The state Senate passed a similar package in 2014, but it stalled in the House.

"Now that people are being prosecuted for it, websites are being shut down," Bristow said. "We are truly winning the battle."

Follow Katrease Stafford on Twitter: @KatreaseS_freep