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March 15 (UPI) -- Mischa Barton has hired a lawyer following reports that a sex tape involving the actress has begun circulating amongst pornography companies. "I am very proud to represent actress Mischa Barton, who is courageously standing up for her rights," Barton's attorney Lisa Bloom said in a statement Tuesday on Facebook.
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"It has been reported that naked or sexually explicit images of Ms. Barton are being 'shopped around.' Ms. Barton does not consent to any disclosure of any such images She believes that she was recorded without her consent by someone she was seeing at the time," she continued.
"There's a name for this disgusting conduct: revenge pornography," adds Bloom. "Revenge pornography is a form of sexual assault, and it is also a crime and a civil wrong in California. And we will not stand for it."
"I have a message for anyone who attempts to traffic in these photos or videos of Ms. Barton: we will find you, and we will come after you. We will fully prosecute you under every available criminal and civil law. You proceed at your peril."
While speaking with People magazine, Bloom explained that Barton could potentially pursue the case in both civil and criminal court.
"What I see over and over again is women who are very scared, but when they stand up on their own two feet and they say, 'No, I'm not going to stand for this, I'm going to fight back,' it's very empowering. I think this is a very healthy step that Mischa step is taking," Bloom said.
The sex tape was first outed by the Daily Mail.
In January, the former The O.C. star announced that she was hospitalized after she was drugged with GHB during her 31st birthday celebration.
