SAN DIEGO — Kevin Bollaert, the alleged owner and operator of UGotPosted.com, is set to appear on court Dec. 17.
Bollaert was arrested Tuesday by California Department of Justice agents after a six-month investigation. He was released from San Diego County jail after posting $50,000 bail.
UGotPosted.com, known commonly as a revenge porn website, facilitated the posting of more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos and extorted victims for as much as $350 each to remove the illicit content, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said.
Bollaert has been charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion and is facing possible jail time and fines.
The defendant told CNN that he feels remorse for his actions and has renounced revenge-porn-as-profession, but does not believe he has committed any crimes.
"I just don't want to be involved in that kind of website anymore," Bollaert said. "I want to do good things with my life."
Unlike many other revenge porn websites where the subject of the photos is anonymous, UGotPosted.com required that the poster include the subject’s full name, location, age and Facebook profile link.
Court documents allege that Bollaert created a second website, ChangeMyReputation.com, in October 2012, which he used when individuals contacted UGotPosted.com requesting that content be removed from the site.
Bollaert would allegedly extort victims by replying with a ChangeMyReputation.com email address and offering to remove the content for a fee ranging from $299.99 to $350, which could be paid using a PayPal account referenced in the emails.
The website operator has at least three federal civil suits pending associated with UGotPosted.com operations over allegedly posting unauthorized pictures.
