Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, was arrested and charged with 31 felony counts for allegedly demanding tens of thousands of dollars from victims to remove the photos posted to his explicit website, ugotposted.com.
The creator of a so-called "revenge porn" site that posted nude photos of people without their permission has been arrested in California.
Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, of San Diego was charged Tuesday with 31 felony counts after allegedly extorting tens of thousands of dollars from victims to remove the explicit photos posted to his site by others.
A search of the email account to Bollaert's now defunct website, ugotposted.com, revealed 1,040 emails between June and August with the word “remove” in them, according to the search warrant affidavit.
One email from June 20 was from a woman named Kaitly who said she was “extremely p----d” over her intimate photos landing online.
“As a mother and someone who’s trying to go out and look for a job, I don’t appreciate you allowing someone with no life to go and ruin someone that’s trying to do something with their life,” she wrote. “I would like them immediately taken down.”
Another victim sent a June 21 email complaining that her phone had been “going off EVERY 2 MINUTES with strange men sending inappropriate” messages.
“It’s disgusting,” the woman named Melinda wrote. “I don’t know what gets you off about ruining people’s lives, but I was under aged in the photos you posed of me so yes, you are showing child pornography.”
Court documents show that Bollaert allegedly created a second website, changemyreputation.com, so victims could contact it to have their photos removed from ugotposted.com. That request allegedly came at a cost up to $350.
Ballaert told investigators that he received payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars from his websites, according to court documents.
He said he additionally made around $900 per month from his websites' advertising.
“At the beginning, it was fun and entertaining, but now it’s just like ruining my life,” Bollaert told investigators during a Sept. 18 meeting in La Jolla, Calif.
Asked if he understood the damage the website was causing, he replied: “Yeah, I realize like this is not a good situation. I feel bad about the whole thing and like I just don’t want to do it anymore. I mean I know a lot of people are getting screwed over like on the site. Like their lives are getting ruined.”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris echoed his acknowledgement in a statement criticizing his work on Tuesday.
"This website published intimate photos of unsuspecting victims and turned their public humiliation and betrayal into a commodity with the potential to devastate lives," said Harris. "Online predators that profit from the extortion of private photos will be investigated and prosecuted for this reprehensible and illegal Internet activity."
Ballaert is being held in San Diego County jail on $50,000 bail while facing possible jail time and fines.
He has been charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion.
Individuals who believe they were victimized by ugotposted.com or other revenge porn websites are asked to file a complaint with the California Attorney General's office here. ..Source.. by Nina Golgowski AND Nancy Dillon / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
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