Reality tv star Stephen Bear guilty of sharing secret sex tape of ex-girlfriend Love Island's Georgia Harrison
13 December 2022, 16:17 | Updated: 13 December 2022, 17:28
Stephen Bear has been found guilty of sharing a secret sex tape with his Towie star ex Georgia Harrison on OnlyFans.
Celebrity Big Brother winner Bear, 32 filmed the consensual sex on CCTV then made at least £40,000 on the X-rated site from uploading the clip, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.
Ms Harrison, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she did not know that they were being filmed and told Bear not to share footage when he showed it to her, but she said that he went on to share it on WhatsApp and online.
Bear had denied all charges, but on Tuesday, a jury found him guilty by unanimous verdicts of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.
Georgia Harrison gives a statement outside Chelmsford Crown Court following the trial of Stephen Bear
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He was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 jurors to two of voyeurism.
The disgraced Ex on the Beach star has now been found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films.
Each offence, which took place between August and November 2020, carries a maximum two year sentence.
Bear, who showed up to Chelmsford Crown Court each day in a Rolls Royce limousine, was accused of "revenge porn" by Georgia.
The Towie star, who bravely waived her anonymity, also broke down as she told jurors how the tape had ruined her life. Georgia said her and Bear had gone into the garden while drunk to play cards when she had sex with him unaware she was being filmed.
She added: "We had had sex before. His performance was a lot more excited and a lot more dramatic than usual, looking back - more positions, more effort. I had no idea I was on camera.”
After the guilty verdicts were returned, Bear said in court: "My barrister said not to...
"In my opinion from the very beginning it was never a fair trial, what the press said against me.
"I was fighting a losing battle and it is what it is."
Judge Christopher Morgan told the defendant: "Thank you for that observation."
Ms Harrison appeared to breath a sigh of relief as the guilty verdicts were returned.
She said, in a statement released through police, that the "last two years have been absolute hell and this verdict will allow me to start to put the pain I have suffered in the past and start embracing the future".
"I hope me taking a stand gives other men and women who have fallen victim to revenge porn the courage to seek justice and most importantly show them that they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of," she said.
"I have felt ashamed, hurt, violated, even broken at times but today I stand here feeling empowered, grateful and a huge sense of unity with all of those who have reached out to support me throughout this ordeal."
Georgia claimed she realised it was a "serious situation" when she caught him sending the clip on WhatsApp later that night.
The reality star claimed Bear told her "I would never do that" and promised he would delete it but when later confronted about the clip appearing online, Bear slammed her claims as "full-blown lies".
During his own evidence, the CBB winner claimed he was subjected to more than 1,000 personal attacks when the tape went public.
It was also revealed he had made almost £40,000 from OnlyFans in the weeks after sharing the clip.
Asked in court whether that was good money, he said: “I got offered almost £50k to do Celebrity Big Brother again so it depends what you call good money.”
Two months before the clip went public, Bear's Natwest account had been nearly £13,000 in debt.
Bear, from Walthamstow, East London, worked as a roofer before making it as a reality TV star.
