Following an all-day sentencing Friday, a judge handed down 18 years to the former operator of a “revenge porn” website that featured nude photos of a Chula Vista woman and thousands of other women whose ex-boyfriends or others submitted the photos without their consent.
Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 28, was ordered to pay $15,488 to six females and one male victim of his website that was shut down in 2013 by the California Attorney General’s office which said there were 10,031 unauthorized photographs online.
Bollaert, of Pacific Beach, was convicted by a jury Feb. 2 of six extortion counts in which he demanded payment between $250-350 from victims in order to have the nude photos taken down. The jury also convicted him of 21 counts of identity theft in which the victim’s full names, hometowns, ages, and sometimes work addresses were posted.
San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill turned down the defense request for probation, saying that was “completely off the table” because of the damages that occurred to the victims’ lives.
“He deserves to be punished very severely,” said Gill. “This case cries out for consecutive sentences…and to send a message. We have to honor the human dignity and incredible devastation (of victims).”
Gill surpassed the 10-year minimum sentence Deputy Attorney General Tawnya Austin had sought. Gill said the 18-year term was the maximum. Austin said Bollaert made $30,000 in the scheme.
Bollaert will be serving the 18-year term in the San Diego county jail instead of state prison which is allowed for certain non-violent offenders under California’s public safety realignment law. Gill noted that Bollaert will likely be released after he serves nine actual years in local jails.
From Bollaert’s perspective, a prison term might have been easier to serve because inmates are allowed to exercise and go outside on the prison yard. People in local jails are not allowed outside and remain within the same building.
Bollaert will become the sheriff’s department’s longest held prisoner until 2024. He received jail credits for 62 days as he had been free on $50,000 bond until the verdict. He was fined $12,044.
Attorney General Kamala Harris said Bollaert’s sentencing marked the first criminal conviction of “a cyber-exploitation website operator” in the nation. Harris described Bollaert’s crimes as “sitting behind a computer, committing what is essentially a cowardly and criminal act.”
Attending the sentencing were many victims, some of whom told the judge about the trauma that occurred after they discovered the photos, some of which were e-mailed to their parents or co-workers. One woman said her parents kicked her out, and she lost her car and job.
Some women said others blamed them for having nude photos taken, even if they were only meant for a boyfriend or husband. Most of the ex-boyfriends denied sending the photos to Bollaert, but some of their online accounts were apparently hacked.
One 24-year-old soldier told Gill his wife’s nude photos were hacked and hundreds of vulgar messages were sent to him and his wife. He described Bollaert as a “monster.” He said other soldiers in his unit knew of his wife’s photos.
Others also said they received hundreds of vulgar e-mails from strangers. Almost all of them said it occurred after Bollaert and others accessed their Facebook accounts in which personal information became part of his website called “YouGotPosted.”
“Cyberspace is a very, very scary place,” said Gill.
Bollaert’s parents broke down and pleaded for mercy for their son, who was wearing blue jail clothing and who remained silent in court. They said he was raised in a loving Christian home and he had remorse.
“How sorry I am to be here for the stupid, inappropriate things my son did,” said Bollaert’s father tearfully. “We don’t condone what he did. Consider a sentence to allow him to fix his wrongs.”
The parents, who declined to enter their names into the court record, said firmly they were not responsible for paying the victims restitution.
Bollaert’s attorney, Emily Rose-Weber, said he thought his business was legal and “wanted to become a millionaire.”
She said he was immature, “wandering around, trying to find himself” when he created the website in 2012.
“People make mistakes, especially when they are young. This is not indicative of who he is,” said Rose-Weber.
Gill responded by quoting what Bollaert said to investigators early on as to why he started the website. “It was kinda fun and entertaining at first, but now it’s like ruining my life,” said Bollaert, adding that he didn’t like law enforcement agencies searching his computers.
The sentencing lasted almost six hours. At the 4th hour, a visiting deputy probation officer whispered half-jokingly to two reporters “is this the sentencing in which you get older before it’s over?”
