Hunter Moore, “Revenge Porn King”, Free On Bond

Hunter Moore, the founder of the “revenge porn” site Is Anyone Up, has been released on $100,000 bond into his parents’ custody but still faces felony charges that include identity t...
Hunter Moore, “Revenge Porn King”, Free On Bond
Written by Amanda Crum
  • Hunter Moore, the founder of the “revenge porn” site Is Anyone Up, has been released on $100,000 bond into his parents’ custody but still faces felony charges that include identity theft and conspiracy.

    27-year old Moore founded the site with some friends in 2010 after having trouble in his love life and has said that what started as a way to deal with a broken heart got out of control.

    “It was just a couple of friends and, you know, we had our hearts broken by a couple of girls, and we thought we would make a site. And it became Is Anyone Up. That’s how it started. Of course. But when I did start the site, I was hurt, and so was my friends,” he said in an interview with Dr. Drew.

    The site eventually became a place for people to anonymously post nude photos of others–usually a former lover who had spurned them–and earned Moore several thousand dollars a month until he shut it down in 2012. He and 25-year old Charles Evens are accused of posting hundreds of nude photos online without permission, and the FBI says Moore tapped Evens to hack into computers to get some of them. Moore still maintains that although he posted the photos on Is Anyone Up, the blame lies with the people who took the photos. However, once the site gained popularity, he says he began receiving nude photos of underage subjects and the headache of reporting them every day was getting to be too much.

    “The site was started for the scene and I tried to keep it that way as long as I could by supporting bands and giving them reasonable prices on ad space,” he wrote in an open letter on Bullyville.com. “The bills were getting too insane and I had to turn to the porn game for extra money but it’s too shady and, in my opinion, it ruined the site. That and my appearance on Anderson Cooper didn’t help. The site was a blessing for me and still is, but I am burned out and I honestly can’t take another underage kid getting submitted and having to go through the process of reporting it and dealing with all the legal drama of that situation.”

    Moore sold the site to an anti-bullying group in 2012, saying he had been wanting to shut it down for months beforehand.

    “Taking down the site has been something I`ve wanted to do for months,” Moore said. “It was just something I created that got out of hand. It was supposed to be for friends.”

    If convicted, Moore faces a five-year sentence for each conspiracy and hacking-related charge leveled against him. His freedom comes with several conditions, including the forfeiture of his passport and a ban on computer use.

    Image via Thinkstock

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