GoDaddy.com among defendants in 'revenge porn' lawsuit

Hollie Toups, 32, said she got 'Let it be' tattooed on her arm after finding her picture on a revenge porn website. Toups was the first woman to join the suit. Hollie Toups, 32, said she got 'Let it be' tattooed on her arm after finding her picture on a revenge porn website. Toups was the first woman to join the suit. Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close GoDaddy.com among defendants in 'revenge porn' lawsuit 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Southeast Texas lawyer has filed a class action lawsuit for women who claim spurned partners posted stolen nude photos of them on a "revenge porn" site.

Beaumont attorney John S. Morgan said the lawsuit focuses on a site where women believe ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands have posted private photos of their exes without permission in retaliation after break-ups. Seventeen women from around the state have signed onto the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Orange County. The lawsuit claims invasion of privacy and mental anguish.

The lawsuit names as defendants GoDaddy.com; Texxxan.com; and unidentified defendants that include "the persons and/or entities hosting Texxxan.com" and "all subscribing members."

"I'm going after the revenge porn industry," Morgan said. "Those sickos who post private information of women without their knowledge."

The lawsuit targets the hosting site. Morgan said he also plans to sue the members and subscribers to the porn site.

"The only way to destroy this industry is to go after the people who fund it," he said.

Morgan said a Beaumont woman, Hollie Toups, first came forward after she found a picture of herself on the site. Since then other women whose pictures were posted without permission joined her, he said.

He said about half the women do not know who posted the pictures and the other half suspect their former partners.

"We've all been living in the shadows," Toups said. "Where I was ashamed before, now I can feel proud that we can help people."

The number listed for the registered owner of the site was not receiving calls and the website's hosting company did not immediately respond for comment.

The Beaumont Enterprise contributed to this report.