"Boy Who Distributed Girlfriend's Video, Despicable" US Court's Anger Hits 1.6 Trillion Won

Retaliation Against Ex-Lover Through Distribution
"Hope This Sends a Message to Prevent Similar Crimes"

An American man who distributed intimate photos of his ex-girlfriend online to retaliate against her has been ordered to pay over 1 trillion won in damages.

On the 15th (local time), according to the New York Times (NYT) and others, a jury in Houston, Texas, ruled that Markis Jamal Jackson, who was sued for distributing revenge porn to retaliate against his ex-girlfriend, must pay $1.2 billion (approximately 1.6 trillion won) in damages.

The lawsuit was filed by a Texas woman using the initials 'D.L.', who demanded compensation and punitive damages for sexual abuse against her ex-boyfriend Jackson.

The two, who started dating in 2016, had a rapidly deteriorating relationship from early 2020. The woman moved to her mother's house in Texas, but Jackson accessed internet security systems to monitor her.

The couple ended their relationship in October 2021. However, Jackson subsequently uploaded files containing the woman's private images to porn websites, various social networking service (SNS) platforms, and public folders on file-sharing services. He also sent link messages to the woman's family and acquaintances directing them to these folders.

In March of last year, Jackson sent a message to the woman saying, "You will spend the rest of your life trying to erase your images from the internet, but you will fail," and "Everyone you meet will hear about it and look it up."

Jackson even stole money from the woman's bank account to pay his rent and other bills, and continuously harassed her by sending text messages from a virtual phone number.

Regarding this case, the court jury ordered Jackson to pay $200 million (approximately 267.1 billion won) in compensation for the victim's emotional distress and $1 billion (approximately 1.3355 trillion won) in punitive damages. Jackson did not appear in court on the day of the ruling.

Brad Guild, the attorney for the plaintiff (D.L.), said he does not expect the full $1.2 billion to be paid but hopes the verdict will have a deterrent effect on similar crimes in the future. He stated, "I will forever respect the courage of 'D.L.' who fought back," and added, "I hope the enormous amount of this verdict sends a message that will prevent others from engaging in such despicable acts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.