Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear ordered to pay £27,000 over revenge porn conviction or face nine months in jail
28 March 2024, 18:01 | Updated: 28 March 2024, 18:05
Stephen Bear has been ordered to pay £27,305 within three months for posting a sex tape of him and his ex-partner George Harrison.
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The disgraced reality TV star was ordered to pay the sum or face an additional nine months in jail.
He had been jailed for 21 months last year after uploading the sex tape of him and his ex-partner Georgia Harrison to OnlyFans.
He was released from prison in January after serving 10 and a half months of his sentence.
During a proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, the judge ruled that Bear must pay £22,305 to HM Treasury and police charities over the profit he made from the tape.
Judge Christopher Morgan also ordered that Bear pay Ms Harrison £5,000 in compensation, which he said "can be enforced through the magistrates' court" if it is "not satisfied".
Bear originally made £1,650.98 from the video but this figure increased to £22,305.06 when his subscribers rose by 822 in the month before Georgia was made aware of the clip, a court previously heard.
Mr Harrison told the court on Thursday: “I had to live in fear that this was going to come out and my family were going to know about it.
"It was just like the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine. I felt violated, I felt embarrassed - I hated myself for a really long time."
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She also said: “Imagine walking into a room and knowing that everyone had seen you in a sexual act.
“I was at the lowest I have ever been. I couldn't go out, to the gym, to bars, everyone was talking about it. Almost every brand dropped me until I got my voice back [during the court proceedings].
“But even after the guilty verdict some people still won't work with me because I have effectively been put into the porn industry by someone I was nothing but good to.
“I felt violated, ashamed, embarrassed. I blamed myself for putting myself in this situation with this person.
“If I ever one day I want to have children that footage will always be out there.”
She said that Bear had failed to show a “scrap of remorse” or apologise following the conviction and that following a High Court case she was awarded £207,900 damages, and £213,515 in costs to her no-win no-fee solicitors, but that Bear had paid "not one penny" of it.
Bear interrupted from the docks, as he said: "You shouldn't have to pay if you're innocent!"
Ms Harrison, standing at the witness box, said: "It got proven, literally, in a court."
Judge Christopher Morgan said the video had a "devastating" impact on Ms Harrison and meant her life had been “changed forever”.
He added that Ms Harrison lost money as a result of the video being published, including losing work from brands and paying out for legal fees.
Ms Harrison told the court she had lost at least £30,000 in cancelled contracts after the sex tape was published.
Following the ruling, she thanked the Crown Prosecution Service, Essex Police and the court for enforcing a confiscation order on Bear.
She said outside of court on Thursday: “Nobody has the right to earn money from any crime but to earn so much from image-based sexual abuse is quite frankly abhorrent.
"I think it's important that anyone who commits this awful crime should be made to give any money they made back to the victim and also the judicial system, especially after a successful conviction.
“I think this is a clear example why it is so important to report these sorts of crimes to the police. They are there to help you so please do let them.”
