Revenge porn ‘kingpin’ Hunter Moore sentenced to two years for IsAnyoneUp? website

THE man who made a living from exposing women had his day in court today. The verdict was a slap in the face for victims.

HUNTER Moore’s victims thought today would be their day, a day they finally got revenge against the revenge porn kingpin. Sadly, they were very wrong.

Moore, once dubbed “The Internet’s Most Hated Man”, was sentenced today for stealing, distributing and enabling the sharing of thousands of nude pictures of unsuspecting women.

The man who ran the website IsAnyoneUp? was facing up to seven years for his crimes — a fitting punishment in the eyes of his victims. What he got fell way shy of that.

In a federal court in California, the 29-year-old reportedly sat in silence as the families of his victims watched on. He didn’t react when the judge read out his sentence: Two years and a measly fine totalling little more than $2000.

The worst part: He’ll only pay $145 in restitution to the women whose lives were changed forever when he decided to hack their computers and steal what they thought was safe.

Hunter Moore didn't say a word before sentencing and showed no emotion during victim statements.

— Adam Stuffingbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) December 3, 2015

Hunter Moore is going to prison for two years.

— Adam Stuffingbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) December 3, 2015

In addition to his two years in federal prison, revenge porn kingpin Hunter Moore will pay a $2,000 fine and, uh, $145.70 in restitution.

— Adam Stuffingbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) December 3, 2015

“It’s like chasing down Jack the Ripper and giving him community service,” Charlotte Laws, whose daughter was featured on the website, told news.com.au.

“He was about the most horrible bully possible and I’m disappointed he isn’t going to be spending much time in prison. Law enforcement spent more time investigating than he’s going to spend in prison.”

IsAnyoneUp? launched in 2010. The website featured revealing photographs of both men and women and, worst of all, it declared who the photographs belonged to. Each picture came complete with a link to the person’s Facebook or Twitter profile.

The website’s stars often had no idea they’d had their photographs shared. For most, they were taken by a former boyfriend or girlfriend within the safety of a relationship. When things went sour, the images found their way into the waiting, grubby hands of Moore.

In some cases, the pictures were stolen by hackers and in others they were photoshopped with one person’s face attached to another person’s nude body. The images were often very convincing and visitors couldn’t tell the difference.

The website succeeded for two years but it met its match when a photograph was uploaded of Ms Laws’ daughter. When she saw the image, she set about bringing down the site’s owner.

On Wednesday, after years of hard work, the pair finally met in court. It didn’t go how Ms Laws wanted it to but she says she’s relieved to know Moore won’t be hurting anybody else in the immediate future.

“At least he will not be on the internet in a significant way for the next few years,” she said.

Ms Laws said Moore was “cocky” in the courtroom and refused to speak even though he was given the opportunity. She said he appeared “angry” when her daughter spoke.

“He gave me this cocky mean-spirited look. He didn’t show any remorse at all.”

A number of sentencing documents were sealed at Moore’s request. Ms Laws said she thought it was ironic that a person who disrespected everybody else’s privacy should want so desperately to protect his own.

“It’s absurd. He has wanted none of this information to get out. He’s run from the press, tried to hide from the press. He hides and wants to maintain his privacy but he didn’t care about anybody else’s.”

Ms Laws said she believed the judge “went easy” on Moore because he was recently diagnosed with mental illness.

The past four years have been difficult for Ms Laws and her daughter. She says the family has received death threats, had stalkers at their home and had their computers bugged. But she knows today was a win, however small.

“Hopefully he can’t reek any more havoc.”

The lengthy campaign to bring Moore to justice has been viewed as something of a test case in the United States where revenge porn legislation has been implemented in 25 states.

Ms Laws says she won’t stop trying to make important changes.

“I’m always thinking about the next thing I can do. It is very, very important that this is recognised as a criminal offence and that the law is changed.”