US website exploits hundreds of Adelaide women and girls — and refuses victims’ pleas to remove nude images

EXCLUSIVE: Nude, risque and revealing photos of more than 400 Adelaide women and teenagers — some allegedly under the age of consent — are being shared by a US website whose moderators openly mock their victims.

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NUDE, risque and revealing photos of more than 400 Adelaide women and teenagers — some allegedly under the age of consent — are being shared online, without permission, by a US website.

The Advertiser was today alerted to the existence of the site by women who say the photographs are being displayed and offered for downloading without their permission.

On the site, the user who posted the photos promises access to Adelaide “chicks” in various states of undress, telling victims “you cannot do anything to stop us”.

Women whose photos appear on the site say the images have been taken from private Facebook accounts or shared by former boyfriends as “revenge porn”.

But a moderator of the site — which The Advertiser will not name — says it is exempt from SA law because it is based in the US, and that women shown should address their concerns to those who took the photos.

Both the victims and The Advertiser have reported the site to SA Police, and an investigation is under way.

“It is timely to stress that uploading of images and texts are done in an instant and often without thinking about the long-term effects,” a police spokeswoman said.

“Unfortunately, these images and texts remain in the electronic mediums forever, and the long-term effects of an uploaded image or text can have long-term psychological effects on both the sender and those receiving.

“The social ramifications for students involved in these matters can cause embarrassment both now and into the future.

“This can also cause further damage to reputation when applying for employment.”

Internet safety advocate Sonya Ryan, from the Carly Ryan Foundation, today dubbed the situation “a nightmare” and called on authorities to assist those affected.

“Though I believe no one should choose to share explicit photos of themselves online, they are free to make that choice,” she said.

“That freedom doesn’t mean they deserve to have those photos plastered around the internet for someone overseas to use however they want to.

“The hammer of the law should come down in the strongest possible way — if Australian law doesn’t protect these women, what will?”

The images began appearing on the website in April in a messageboard discussion thread.

The user who started the thread said they had “100+ different pics of SA chicks” and asked to trade images with others.

Later that month, the user said they had images of more than 400 women and were seeking more.

“It’s really been me doing 90 per cent of the work collecting new content, organising folders, killing duplicates, merging archives,” the user wrote.

“This has been my latest project ... I didn’t take all the pics myself or anything but I did go through every single thread and save nearly every image myself.”

This morning, victims became aware of the site’s existence through Facebook and other social media, prompting one to confront the user and demand her photos be taken down.

“F--- off you autistic whore ... you cannot do anything to stop us,” the user replied.

Other victims joined the call for the thread to be deleted, with some asserting they were under the age of consent and the sharing of images therefore constituted child pornography.

That prompted one of the site’s moderators to post a message on the thread, labelling claims child pornography had been shared as “psychopathic behaviour”.

“Trying to use imaginary child pornography to further your own ends is absolutely disgusting, if it worked on some other sites it certainly will not work here,” the moderator wrote.

“Small breasts do not count as child pornography — through from the photos I can see none of you suffer that problem.

“(This site) is hosted in the United States, not Australia ... the United States, for its part, still has some freedom left.”

The moderator told the women they should approach “the owners” of the photos and seek their deletion, “instead of drivelling nonsense about how 25-year-old women are 11”.

Today, Ms Ryan said the Carly Ryan Foundation sought to educate children on the legal consequences of sharing explicit material online.

She said that work was “undermined” when child exploitation offenders received suspended sentences for their actions.

Ms Ryan cited yesterday’s sentencing of Trevor Phillip Harris, who avoided jail for blackmailing seven underage girls, as an example.

“Sometimes people make poor choices, but that’s no reason or justification for images of them to be passed around online,” she said.

“We tell kids that as soon as you choose to share an image, you lose control of it — but then an offender is prosecuted for this crime and they don’t even go to jail.

“That’s a contradictory, completely upside-down message that needs to be corrected ... we need legal change to recognise how serious this offending is.”

A police spokeswoman said SA child pornography laws made it a crime for anyone to transmit or possess naked pictures of a person aged under 17.

She said that included teens “taking and sending images of their own body”.

“Those found guilty of making and sharing child pornography face penalties of up to 10 years in prison and possible registration on the sex offender registry,” she said.

“In the last financial year there were 105 cases (involving adults) involving this type of behaviour.

“(This was) a marked increase from the 14 cases in 2009, although at that time the laws covering this offending were more restrictive.”

Paul Fletcher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, said revenge porn was an offence under both state and Commonwealth law.

He said revenge porn of a child may also constitute a second offence of cyber-bullying.

From next month, such cases would be handled by the new Children’s E-Safety Commissioner.

Mr Fletcher said that if cyberbullying material targeted at and harmful to an Australian child was posted on a large social media service, the Commissioner would be “able to direct that cyber-bullying material be removed, either by the large social media service or by the person who posted the material”.

“If a complaint is received about the posting of material that is potentially a crime, the Commissioner will be able to refer the complaint to police.”