San Diego, CA — As technology advances, the law often struggles to keep up. Recently California adopted a law banning so-called "revenge porn." Under the new law, it is a misdemeanor to post graphic nude or sexual pictures of another person in order to humiliate them. The targets of revenge porn are usually women whose former boyfriends post nude photos or videos of them online. Recently, the operator of a revenge porn site was convicted on multiple counts of identity theft and extortion in San Diego.
On Monday, jurors found Kevin Bollaert, 28, guilty of 27 criminal charges related to two websites that he ran. One was a revenge porn site called ugotposted.com where he posted user submitted photos that also included personal information such as names and locations, and in some cases linked to social media profiles. Bollaert also ran a site called changemyreputation.com where he charged people up to $350 to have the pictures taken down.
Prosecutors characterized these two websites with seemingly disparate purposes as a extortion scheme. Bollaert's attorney, Emily Rose-Weber, disagreed saying that her client had broken no law, no matter how "immoral," "gross," or "offensive" his conduct may have been. Jurors sided with prosecutors on 27 of the charges against Bollaert, but could not reach a verdict on 2 others, leading to the judge declaring a mistrial for those charges. Bollaert could be sentenced to as long as 20 years in prison.
Bollaert was not charged under California's new anti-revenge porn law because all of his alleged offenses took place before the law was passed in October 2013. The Constitution explicitly prohibit's laws that take effect retroactively or ex post facto, meaning that you cannot be convicted of a crime if your actions were not illegal when they took place.
This is one many protections afforded to those who have been accused of a crime, and is meant to ensure the validity of the results obtained by our legal system. However, no matter what rights and protections a defendant has, the best thing they can do for their own defense is to retain the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney.
At the Law Office of Michael L. Guisti, we've been defending clients in Southern California's state and federal courts for over 16 years, and in that time we've helped hundreds of clients to have the charges against them reduced or dismissed. Our highly qualified legal professionals know the best strategies for fighting any felony or misdemeanor charge and are dedicated to obtaining the best possible results for all of their clients.
We've successfully defended clients against charges of theft, fraud, domestic violence, sexual assault and murder and we're ready to put our expertise to work for you. We know how hard it is to face criminal charges and we're here to help you manage your legal troubles while you try and work through a difficult situation.
Practicing law in Orange County means that we cater to a diverse local community. Our offices in Garden Grove, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, and Irvine are conveniently located near state and federal court districts. We also offer foreign language assistance to our clients who need it.
So when you need the best possible defense against criminal charges in Southern California, call the Law Office of Michael L. Guisti at (714) 707-2797 for a free consultation.
Sources:
AP. "Revenge porn website operator convicted in San Diego." http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/02/03/49638/revenge-porn-website-operator-convicted-in-san-die/. 89.3 KPCC. 3 February 2015.
"Ex post facto." http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/ex_post_facto. Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School. Accessed: 4 February 2015.