A woman from Texas, identified by her initials DL in court records, has been awarded $1.2 billion by a Texas jury in a case involving revenge porn.
DL filed a harassment lawsuit against her former boyfriend in 2022, alleging that he shared intimate photos of her online with the intention of publicly shaming her following their breakup.
The verdict is being hailed by her legal team as a victory for victims of "image-based sexual abuse."
"While it's unlikely that the full judgment in this case will be collected, the compensatory award restores DL's reputation," stated Bradford Gilde, the lead trial attorney.
Originally, the legal team had requested $100 million in damages.
"We anticipate that the magnitude of this verdict will serve as a deterrent and dissuade others from engaging in such reprehensible behavior," Gilde added.
According to court documents, the woman and her former boyfriend started dating in 2016, during which time she shared intimate photos of herself with him. Following their breakup in 2021, he is alleged to have posted these photos on social media platforms and adult websites without her consent.
He reportedly distributed links to the images through a publicly accessible Dropbox folder to her friends and family.
Additionally, he was accused of accessing her phone, social media accounts, email, and even the camera system at her mother's residence, which he used to spy on her.
At one instance, he reportedly sent her a message stating, "You will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking. Happy Hunting."
The woman's legal team contended that her ex-boyfriend posted the pictures with the intention of inflicting psychological abuse, domestic violence, and sexual abuse.
The defendant did not appear in court and was not represented by an attorney, as per US media reports.
He has been ordered to pay the woman $200 million for past and future mental distress, along with an additional $1 billion in exemplary damages.
Past instances have seen substantial settlements in US revenge porn cases. In 2018, a California woman was awarded $6.8 million when explicit images of her were shared on pornography websites by her former partner.
DL revealed in an interview with a Texas broadcaster that after receiving limited assistance from local law enforcement, she sought the assistance of a civil attorney.
A study conducted in 2016 by the Data & Society Research Institute reported that around 10 million Americans, primarily women aged 18 to 29, were victims of non-consensual or revenge porn.
All US states, except for Massachusetts and South Carolina, have enacted anti-revenge porn laws. Photo by WhisperToMe, Wikimedia commons.