Following 14 hours of deliberations over three days, a jury convicted a Pacific Beach man Feb. 2 of six extortion charges and 21 identity thefts in connection with his operation of a “revenge porn” website, which displayed photos of nude women and required fees ranging from $299 to $350 for their deletion.
The eight-woman, four-man jury deadlocked on a conspiracy charge and another identity theft count against Kevin Bollaert, 28, but he faces 20 years in prison at his April 3 sentencing for the 27 guilty verdicts he received. Testimony began Jan. 16.
San Diego Superior Court Judge David Gill initially said he had leaned toward letting Bollaert remain free on $50,000 bond until Deputy Attorney General Tawnya Austin asked that he be remanded to jail because of “potential harm to the community, (as) he is a master to using the Internet.
“His specialty is harm on the Internet,” said Austin. “This is an individual who has no moral compass.” Twenty-six women and two men testified they learned their nude photos somehow got on the website and were told they had to pay $299 to $350 to get them taken down. Most of the victims said they did not know how or who got their pictures. Austin told Gill that Bollaert was convicted in federal court of giving a wrong address on applications to buy 20 firearms, seized by authorities. Bollaert is currently on federal probation and served 15 days in federal prison in 2014, his attorney, Emily Rose-Weber, confirmed to Gill.
Bollaert reportedly intended to sell the guns over the Internet. Gill wondered if the probation restrictions limited Bollaert from being on the Internet, to which Rose-Weber replied no. “I don’t think he’s a danger to anyone,” said Rose-Weber, adding that Bollaert now lives with his parents in another state and that the parents paid the $50,000 bond.
The judge ordered Bollaert’s bail increased to $500,000. One juror’s note to the judge revealed the jury’s impasse on the conspiracy count, inquiring if any of the posters to the website could be called co-conspirators. The jury foreperson said the last vote on the conspiracy count was 8-4 and 7-5 on the other.
In her closing argument Jan. 29, Rose-Weber had argued for acquittal on all counts, saying Bollaert created “a blank canvas” for others to post nude photos and comments on the website YouGotPosted.com. She said Bollaert didn’t take any of the photos and did not know any of the people whose photos were posted.
“He is not legally responsible for actions of thousands of people,” Rose-Weber said in closing arguments. “He didn’t think he did anything wrong. He didn’t invent revenge porn.”
Austin described Bollaert as “a puppet master,” adding that “The very best criminals have others do their dirty work for them. He’s a vindictive person who takes pleasure in harming someone.”
– Neal Putnam