Earlier this month, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that Kevin Christopher Bollaert, the operator of UGotPosted.com, a cyber-exploitation website which posted nude photographs of people (as well as personal identifying information) without their consent, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Bollaert was found guilty on six counts of extortion and 21 counts of identity theft. According to the Office of the Attorney General of California, this case is the first criminal prosecution of a cyber-exploitation website operator in the country. Attorney General Kamala D. Harris was quoted as saying:

“Today's sentence makes clear there will be severe consequences for those that profit from the exploitation of victims online. Sitting behind a computer, committing what is essentially a cowardly and criminal act will not shield predators from the law or jail. We will continue to be vigilant and investigate and prosecute those who commit these deplorable acts."

Bollaert's conviction means the end of a six-month investigation by the California Attorney General's eCrime unit. During this investigation, it was reported that people who approached Bollaert to have intimate photos removed from the site were directed to ChangeMyReputation.com and charged between $250 to $350, and while Bollaert claimed to have made only$900 a month in website ad revenue, he is believed to have collected near $30,000 from the victims during December 2012 and September 2013.

UGotPosted.com contained more than 10,000 images, mostly of women, and the publication of these explicit photos caused emotional distress, the loss of jobs, and even one suicide attempt.