Ex-Miss West Virginia Wins $7.2M in Porn Video Scam Case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A former Miss West Virginia has won a $7.2 million verdict against nine Internet companies and individuals who tried to sell pornographic videos they falsely claimed featured her.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg on Wednesday ordered each defendant to pay Allison Williams $800,000 for damaging the 2003 beauty queen's reputation and invading her privacy.
"This had been a very long fight for her so this was a great victory for her," her attorney, Parween Mascari, said Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The videos, which surfaced in the fall of 2004, show a woman the Internet porn producers falsely claimed to be Williams engaged in sex in the back of a television news truck.
Williams, now 27, discovered the defamatory videos during her first semester of law school at West Virginia University while searching the Internet for a favorable newspaper article about herself to save for her scrapbook, Mascari said.
Williams has since graduated from law school and now works for a shipping company in Vienna, Virginia, while she prepares to pass the bar, Mascari said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"I struggled every single day to maintain my law school studies, in the face of incredible stress and anxiety," Williams said in a prepared statement. "Still, I refused to allow these pornographers to control my dream to graduate from law school and realize my goals."
The nine defendants found liable during a bench trial are Castle Company Property Ltd., The Moles Trust, Russell M. Moles, Gwendoline E. Moles and Guy Blomberg, all of Australia; Vidbidness Inc. and Eric Ridley of California; and Etrax Productions and Ronald Yates of Texas.
They all chose not to participate in the trial nor have attorneys represent them.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Mascari said this has been a grueling experience for Williams, whose online presence is usually the first thing she has to address with people she meets, from potential employers to boyfriends.
The bogus videos also attracted a stalker who sent her thousands of disturbing letters, Mascari said.