The reality TV personality Georgia Harrison, who was a victim of revenge porn by her ex-boyfriend, has said she did not realise how difficult it would be to convict him.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning programme to promote her upcoming documentary, Harrison said she felt relieved after Stephen Bear was jailed for 21 months after sharing a private video of them having sex. Bear, also a reality TV star, was ordered to sign the sex offender register and given a restraining order not to contact Harrison for five years.
Harrison told the presenter Holly Willoughby: “First of all, just really grateful, it wasn’t until recently I realised just how hard it is to get a conviction for this sort of a crime. It shouldn’t be as it is such a painful crime.
“Although it was really painful to go through what I did, I feel it’s making some sort of change to society and I am just relieved, I can take some joy from that.”
She added that the ordeal felt as if she was experiencing the stages of grief, her mental and physical health declined, and the nature of the crime meant she never had full anonymity.
She said: “I think when you are in a moment of what you think is love with someone who you have known for a long time and really trust, when really the whole time they were having sexual intercourse to put a monetary stamp on you to sell you on the internet – that really affects the way you value yourself and, following on from that, I was in a stage of grief – crying and drinking too much probably – my diet was all over the place and I broke out in spots all over my face and I was hospitalised over Christmas.
“The situation seriously affected the way I trust people, especially in intimate situations – when I first saw the footage I felt physically sick.
“I am aware it was a brave move waiving anonymity, but it was already out, at one point I was worried the postman knew about it, and everyone I was worried would find out knew, so therefore my anonymity dissipated in that moment and so it made sense to take a stand.”
