Woman Wins Huge Payout From Ex Over Revenge Porn

$6.45M is second-largest payout for non-celebrity victim, lawyers say
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2018 12:28 PM CDT
Updated Apr 14, 2018 10:40 AM CDT
California Woman Gets Huge Payout Over Revenge Porn
   (Getty Images/Blackzheep)

A California woman who had to copyright photos of her naked body in order to have them removed from various websites has been awarded what her lawyers are calling the second-largest payout for a non-celebrity victim of revenge porn. The woman identified as Jane Doe, represented by the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project, accused ex-boyfriend David Elam II of sharing intimate photos she gave him while the pair were in a long-distance relationship. Because the photos were taken with Doe's consent, she had to copyright the photos showing her topless and "simulating sexual acts," which meant sending them to the federal government, to get some websites to take them down. Through a civil case accusing Elam of copyright infringement, online impersonation, stalking, and intentional emotional distress, she has now been awarded $6.45 million, reports CNN.

The compensation—including $450,000 for copyright infringement, $3 million in compensatory damages, and $3 million in punitive damages—marks the end of a fight that began five years ago. Elam was first investigated in 2013. A criminal case alleging stalking and identity theft was then launched, but dropped in 2016 by federal prosecutors who decided the burden of proof couldn't be met, the New York Times previously reported. According to Gizmodo, the case "underscores how difficult and complicated it can be for victims of revenge porn," even in California, which has a law prohibiting the distribution of compromising photos. Some states do not, and there's no federal law prohibiting the act Doe says was "humiliating and dehumanizing," per CNN. Motherboard reports that a revenge porn database could help. (More revenge porn stories.)

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