Accused 'Revenge Porn' Website Operator Headed to Court in San Diego

A San Diego man accused of posting thousands of explicit photographs of women on a so-called "revenge porn" website without their consent, then extorting money from those who wanted the images removed from the Internet is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Jan. 17.

Kevin Christopher Bollaert, 27, -- who is out of custody on $50,000 bail -- was charged last month with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion, according to the office of State Attorney General Kamala Harris.

In December 2012, Bollaert created a website called "ugotposted.com," which allows people to create anonymous, public posts of private explicit photographs without the subjects' permission, court documents allege.

Commonly known as revenge porn, such images, generally of nude young women, typically are obtained consensually by the poster during a prior relationship, or are stolen.

Unlike other such online sites, on which those depicted in the photos are anonymous, ugotposted.com required that posters include the subjects' full name, location, age and social-networking profile link, according to the attorney general.

Under California law, it is illegal to willfully obtain someone's personal identifying information -- including name, age and address -- for any unlawful purpose, including with the intent to "annoy" or harass.

Between Dec. 2, 2012, and Sept. 17 of last year, Bollaert and unnamed co- conspirators allegedly posted 10,170 explicit photos without the subjects' consent.

Bollaert also created a second online site, "changemyreputation.com," which he used when people contacted ugotposted.com to request that content be removed from the site, according to the attorney general's office.

Bollaert allegedly would extort victims by replying with a changemyreputation.com email address and offering to remove the content for a fee ranging from $300 to $350.

—City News Service