Jailed reality star Stephen Bear is set to pay a record amount of damages to Love Island star Georgia Harrison after sharing a revenge porn video of the pair having sex online.
Bear has been ordered to pay his ex-partner £207,900 in damages after he was jailed in March for 21 months for voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films, Sky News reported.
The figure is the highest-ever sum awarded in an image abuse case and one of the largest damages payments for a privacy claim relating to a single act.
Ms Harrison said she will donate part of the money to “multiple charities that have helped support me and other victims of image-based sexual abuse”.
Hanna Basha from Payne Hicks Beach law firm representing Ms Harrison said: “This has been a difficult, complicated and emotional case.
“I am pleased that we were able to support Georgia, and I hope her strength in pursuing this highlights to other victims that there is help and support available for them and that the courts take these matters very seriously.”
During a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, the prosecution said Bear, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, and Ms Harrison were captured having consensual sex on CCTV cameras in Bear’s garden on 2 August, 2020. However, Ms Harrison did not know that they were being filmed.
Reality TV star Stephen Bear arrives at Chelmsford Crown Court to be sentenced— (PA Wire)
Bear later shared the video on his OnlyFans account and made more than £2,000 from airing the footage, the court heard.
Ms Harrison said that when Bear showed her the footage she told him “never to send” it to anyone and “made it plain how upset she would be if he did”, the prosecutor said.
Bear had denied all charges and claimed at trial that he had deleted the footage that day and had shared it with no one other than Ms Harrison.
Ms Harrison said she had been through “absolute hell” since the video was posted online, saying Bear “took away an innocent sort of spark that I always had”.
“Bear’s behaviour was completely unacceptable and those who choose to commit such crimes should and will be prosecuted,” she said after he was convicted.
Georgia Harrison outside court after Stephen Bear was jailed for sharing a private video of them (PA)— (PA Wire)
The Love Island star said she had waived her right to anonymity to help other victims of revenge porn offences.
The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made it an offence to disclose private sexual photographs and films with the intent to cause distress and without consent.
Ms Harrison has called for the need to prove intent to be removed from the law, on the basis that any case of revenge porn is likely to cause distress to the victim.
She has previously said she was “enjoying making a difference” by speaking about her experience – and even refused to rule out a foray into politics.
“It’s definitely not something I anticipated happening in my career, but I’ve really been enjoying making a difference,” Ms Harrison said.
The 28-year-old model previously revealed that she developed cysts and later went into septic shock after discovering Bear’s crimes.
