A Texas woman has been awarded more than one billion dollars after explicit images of her body were shared on porn websites by her former partner.
Attorneys for the woman, who is only identified in court documents as Jane Doe, told ABC News that the $1.2bn award was more than what they were expecting.
The woman filed her civil lawsuit in Harris County Civil Court in April 2022, alleging that her ex-boyfriend Marques Jamal Jackson had shared her nudes on fake Twitter, Facebook and YouTube profiles.
The defence also alleged that Mr Jackson, who did not attend the one-day-long civil trial, then forwarded the profiles to the woman’s friends, family, and colleagues.
Deliberations before the jury reached an agreement regarding the award sum — the largest civil verdict in the Lone Star State so far this year — only took 30 minutes. Speaking out following the trial, the woman said having pictures of her naked body shared without her permission had left her traumatised.
“This type of experience is devastating,” the woman told ABC. “It’s extremely painful. It’s hurtful. It’s embarrassing and you fear that either something will trigger and it will start again or that the previous effort inspired someone new and then they might start.”
According to court documents obtained by KHOU 11, the woman and Mr Jackson met in 2016 and went on to have a four-year relationship. When they broke up in 2021, Mr Jackson allegedly shared her nudes on Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, and Pornhub.
The woman’s attorney Jacob Schiffer said that Mr Jackson had access to a camera system installed on her mother’s property as well as her login information for several social media and email accounts. Mr Schiffer said Mr Jackson would even hack into the woman’s Zoom meetings to show her nudes.
“Every day was me, wake up, I’m checking, I’m trying to prevent it, I’m trying to constrain it,” the woman recounted to ABC.
At one point, her attorney told ABC, Mr Jackson reportedly emailed her: “...won’t change the fact that 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.”
The Independent could not find legal representation listed for Mr Jackson.
The victim said that she unsuccessfully asked police for help and after a year of living in fear that more of her pictures would be shared online, she hired legal counsel. Mr Schiffer said that while he doesn’t expect Mr Jackson to pay the money, he hopes the hefty sum sends a message.
“For the future, anyone thinking of wanting to do this to somebody else that is going to weigh on them like a ball and chain until the date that they’re buried,” Mr Shiffer said.
Sharing intimate material without a person’s consent is considered a felony. It is unclear whether the victim plans to file criminal charges.
The Independent has reached out to the woman’s attorneys.
