This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
When Kevin Christopher Bollaert first started the revenge porn site ugotposted.com in 2012, he told authorities it was "fun and entertaining." Bollaert, 27, of San Diego ran a website that posted over 10,000 photos of nude women with personal details, like the woman's age, phone number, Facebook page and address. These were submitted to his site by mostly anonymous men, and he made about $900 in advertising, according to the New York Daily News. That doesn't count the money that he brought in from changemyreputation.com, a second website where he would offer to take down pictures from panicked, humiliated women for around $350.
But then running the website got old, according to Bollaert, who told investigators, "now it’s just like ruining my life." He reportedly got about 100 e-mails a day from women requesting that he remove photos of the women. One woman complained "my phone has been going off every 2 minutes with strange men sending inappropriate things to me. It’s disgusting," according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. One woman said her workplace had received phone calls about her photos. Another said she was underage at the time of the photo and requested he take down the "child pornography." Women's pictures would get sent not just from exes hoping to exact revenge but by acquaintances and even complete strangers.
Now Bollaert is facing charges from the state Attorney General’s Office. They arrested him yesterday, charging him with 31 felony counts, including felony extortion, conspiracy and identity theft. He wasn't charged under California's new "revenge porn" law, which targets the people who submit nude photos—not the site operators. Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement, "This website published intimate photos of unsuspecting victims and turned their public humiliation and betrayal into a commodity with the potential to devastate lives."
By the time investigators got to him, Bollaert said he kinda sorta realized what we was doing was wrong, “Yeah, I realize like this is not a good situation. I feel bad about the whole thing and like I just don’t want to do it anymore.”
