A woman who says that her ex-boyfriend accessed her personal accounts and distributed intimate photos and videos of her online was awarded $1.2 billion by a Texas jury this month.
The man obtained some of the images by accessing security cameras in the woman’s home, her attorneys told The Washington Post. He also shared the images by email and on a adult website, according to the lawsuit.
“You will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet,” the man allegedly said in an email to the woman. ” . . . Happy Hunting.”
The woman, who was referred to only as Jane Doe in court documents, sued her ex-boyfriend in Harris County, Texas, district court in April 2022.
The lawsuit also accuses Jackson of tapping into his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s home security system to spy on D.L. after the two broke up, as well as sending links to her friends and family to sites where intimate images of her had been uploaded. Jackson was told he no longer had access to the home security system after the break up, according to the lawsuit.
His absence did not prevent a jury from ruling against him Wednesday. It recommended he pay a $1.2 billion penalty for damages against the woman – a higher sum than the woman’s attorneys had requested, and one that they said is unlikely to be recouped.
“We are grateful the jury took a strong stand against the defendant’s abhorrent behavior and against image-based sexual abuse,” Lead trial lawyer Bradford J. Gilde, of Gilde Law Firm said.
A Texas law enacted in 2015 forbids the disclosure of intimate visual material without the consent of the depicted person and with the intent to harm them, and it holds violators liable for damages. Few cases have gone to trial in Texas since then, said Jacob Schiffer, another attorney for the woman.
