Reality star Stephen Bear has been found guilty of sharing a video of him having sex with his ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison on the website OnlyFans.
The Celebrity Big Brother winner and Ms Harrison were captured having sex on CCTV cameras in Bear’s garden on August 2, 2020, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
The prosecution said that the sex at Bear‘s home in Loughton, Essex, was consensual but that Ms Harrison, who has waived her right to anonymity, did not know that they were being recorded.
Bear shared the video on his OnlyFans account and made more than £2,000 from airing the footage, the court heard.
He denied all charges, but today a jury unanimously found him guilty of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress. He was also found guilty of two counts of voyeurism.
Ms Harrison attended Chelmsford Crown Court with her mother to hear the verdicts. After Bear’s conviction was returned she released a statement describing the “absolute hell” of the ordeal.
She said: “The only way to describe how I am feeling now is relieved.
“The last two years have been absolute hell and this verdict will allow me to start to put the pain I have suffered in the past and start embracing the future.
“Bear’s behaviour was completely unacceptable and those who choose to commit such crimes should and will be prosecuted.
“We are living in a time where so much of our lives and our children’s lives are spent online and it is so important that individuals are protected in the virtual world just as they are in reality. Social media has given us the egalitarian belief that we are all publishers but what it hasn’t done is regulate what we should responsibly publish.
“I hope me taking a stand gives other men and women who have fallen victim to revenge porn the courage to seek justice and most importantly show them that they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
“I have felt ashamed, hurt, violated, even broken at times but today I stand here feeling empowered, grateful and a huge sense of unity with all of those who have reached out to support me throughout this ordeal.
After the jurors’ decision, Bear said in court: “In my opinion, from the very beginning, it was never a fair trial, what the press said against me. I was fighting a losing battle and it is what it is.”
Judge Christopher Morgan told the defendant: “Thank you for that observation.”
Ms Harrison, a reality star who has appeared on The Only Way Is Essex and Love Island, told an earlier court hearing 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”, said Jacqueline Carey KC, prosecuting.
The complainant said she saw Bear send the footage to someone via the messaging service WhatsApp later that day, and that later that year she was made aware that it was circulating online.
Ms Carey said that Bear uploaded the footage “either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially”.
Bear, who has appeared on Ex On The Beach, said that he deleted the video on August 2, 2020, and did not send it to others. Asked about the footage being uploaded to his OnlyFans page, he said: “I don’t know of any video being uploaded.”
The judge released Bear on bail until January 31 when he is to return to the same court for sentencing.
