'Revenge porn' operator faces prison over illicit photos

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The operator of a website that specialized in "revenge porn" -- nude photos of people posted online without their consent, typically submitted by someone with an ax to grind against the victim -- is facing as many as seven years in prison after pleading guilty to hacking and identity theft charges, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Hunter Moore, 28, pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday. As part of a plea agreement, Moore agreed to admit that he paid an associate to illegally obtain nude photos by hacking into people's email accounts. Moore, known as the "King of Revenge Porn," would then post them online without the subject's consent.

Moore will be sentenced in June and faces up to seven years in prison, followed by three years of probation. His associate, Chris Evens, 26, has been charged with hacking and conspiracy and is scheduled for trial next month. Investigators said he hacked into hundreds of email accounts.

"Most people do not feel that seven years is enough," the Times quoted Charlotte Laws, who told the FBI her daughter's photos had been published on Moore's website without her knowledge.

Also under the terms of the plea agreement, NBC News reported, Moore's future Internet activity will be monitored once he is released from prison.

Moore operated the site, IsAnyoneUp.com, between 2010 and 2012. He ultimately sold it to an anti-bullying website, saying he was burned out and tired of the circumstances that accompanied running the site.

Moore was arrested by the FBI in January 2014 and charged with numerous counts of aggravated identity theft. He even appeared on Anderson Cooper's talk show in 2011, where he met two women who had their photos posted to his website.