The owner of a now-defunct website that trafficked in stolen nude photos of women, sometimes submitted by jilted ex-boyfriends, was sentenced Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison after one of his Los Angeles-based victims testified that her life was nearly ruined after a topless selfie that she took was posted on the site.
Hunter Moore, 29, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee to undergo a mental health evaluation while behind bars, serve three years of supervised release after he gets out, and pay a $2,000 fine.
“He hid behind his online persona and engaged in aberrant behavior,” Gee said from the bench. “Now you must face the consequences of your own actions. Your poor judgment has caused much pain to your victims and your family.”
Moore — who pleaded guilty in February to one count each of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, and aggravated identity theft — declined to make a statement prior to sentencing. However, his attorney suggested that Moore is “ready, willing and able” to “educate” schoolchildren about the dangers of sexting and posting nude photos on the Internet.
The defendant “was the king of revenge porn — and he reveled in that,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu told the court.
It wasn’t until Moore was arrested in January 2014 and charged in a 15- count criminal indictment that he “changed his tune,” Hsu said.
According to evidence, Moore paid co-defendant Charlie “Gary Jones” Evens upward of $200 a week to break into women’s email accounts and steal nude photos of them, which were posted on the now-inoperative IsAnyoneUp.com website.
Evens, 26, of Studio City, was sentenced Nov. 16 by Gee to two years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Moore posted nude or sexually explicit photos of women that were submitted without the victims’ permission for “revenge” purposes, prosecutors said. The women’s names, professions, social media profiles and cities of residence were often included, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Moore, who lives near Sacramento, operated the website, which had as many as 500,000 followers, for about two years before shutting down in April 2012.
The website drew media attention and Moore was profiled in Rolling Stone — which dubbed him “the most hated man on the Internet” — and appeared on TV talk shows hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Drew Pinsky of “Loveline” fame.
A Los Angeles woman whose topless photo was stolen by Evens and posted by Moore told the judge of the personal chaos the illegal hacking caused.
The 28-year-old victim said Evens, who she did not previously know, hacked into her Google account, stealing the selfie that was meant for her eyes only.
“These photos had never been seen nor sent to anyone,” the tearful woman said. “I emailed them to myself to eventually save on my computer. They were in a private folder called ‘my pics’ along with a plethora of other photos of my dogs, little brothers and such.”
She said she found out that her photos had been posted online while at her job as a waitress when a friend called and urgently told her to meet her outside.
“She proceeded to tell me that I had a topless photo on the Internet along with my full name, Twitter account link and current city,” the woman told the judge. “A total shock was taking over me … I felt exposed, ashamed and broke into tears. I didn’t know what else to do other than call my mom. I made her promise not to tell anyone, including my father and stepfather.
“I was hoping no one would see it, but within a day, a mass text with my photo had been sent to everyone at my restaurant,” the woman said. “The assistant manager said she could get me fired over it, and I lost a role in a film, not to mention the tens of thousands of strangers who saw, commented on or even possibly saved the photo.”
When she got home that night, “a bunch of random guys” had added her on Facebook and were “following me on social media,” she told the court.
“I received vile, sexual messages and rude comments,” the woman said. “One guy even told me he saved the photo, which mortified me. The porn star Ron Jeremy even contacted me to ‘talk business.’ This disgusted me immensely.”
Eventually, all of her friends and family found out, she said.
“I felt hurt that someone would go to such an extent to expose someone in such a nasty way,” she said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything. During most of the time period when my photo was on the website, I was in bed curled into a ball feeling unable to act or move. … At home, I was scared for my life. There was even a stalker parked in front of our house on two evenings.”
She said that away from her home, “I had people who I didn’t even know mention that they knew about the photo. It’s embarrassing and heartbreaking that this is something I’ve been subjected to in my life. I will have to keep a Google alert on my name for the rest of my life in order to make sure that the photo does not reappear.”
When she emailed Moore to ask “nicely” that her photo be removed, “he called me a whore” and posted that he had slept with her repeatedly, the woman said Wednesday.
“I had never been in the same room as Hunter Moore,” she said. “This man is full of hate.”
Gee thanked the woman for her “courage” in coming forward.
Moore’s mother also spoke, calling her son “a good person who made a huge mistake,” but said he has “come a long way.”
Gee, who ordered Moore to surrender on Jan. 22 to begin serving his 30- month sentence, said the defendant was a high school dropout who had mental health issues that were only diagnosed recently.
“He has changed,” Moore’s attorney, Robert Holley, told the judge. “He’s completely different than he was. He’ll never do anything like this again.”
—City News Service