HOUSTON – A Houston woman has been awarded $1.2 billion after her ex-boyfriend distributed intimate images and videos of her online without her permission — a crime known as “revenge porn.”
The victim was awarded $200 million for past and future mental anguish (compensatory damages) and $1 billion in exemplary damages, according to a press release.
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The victim’s ex-boyfriend, Marques Jamal Jackson, has been ordered to pay the damages.
“We are grateful the jury took a strong stand against the defendant’s abhorrent behavior and against imaged-based sexual abuse. While a judgment in this case is unlikely to be recovered, the compensatory verdict gives [the victim] back her good name,” said trial lawyer Bradford Gilde.
Court documents obtained by CBS News reveal that the former couple initially ended their relationship in 2020 but tried to reconcile several times and didn’t fully separate until the fall of 2021.
During that time, the victim moved back in with her mother and Jackson would log on to the victim’s mother’s home security system to spy on the victim, the lawsuit states.
Jackson hacked the victim’s work computer, emailed loan officers claiming the victim was submitting fraudulent applications and shared intimate material of the victim on multiple social media websites, court records reveal.
Gilde said Jackson intended to inflict a combination of psychological abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Trial evidence revealed that Jackson told the victim, “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. Happy Hunting.”
“We will forever admire [the victim’s] courage in fighting back. We hope the staggering amount of this verdict sends a message of deterrence and prevents others from this engaging in this despicable activity,” said Gilde.
Texas made “revenge porn” a criminal offense in 2015.
According to the National Association of Attorneys General, at least 40 million people had reported being victims of image-based sexual abuse by 2019.