Gilde Law Firm, PLLC: Jury Awards Texas Woman $1.2 Billion in Image-Based Sexual Abuse Case

HOUSTON, Aug. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A Harris County state district court jury awarded a Houston woman $1.2 billion after a former boyfriend breached her personal and work computer accounts, impersonated her in fraudulent financial activity, and distributed intimate images and videos of her online, according to her attorneys at Gilde Law Firm, PLLC and co-counsel.

The jury in the 113^th State District Court ordered defendant Marques Jamal Jackson to pay Jane Doe (D.L.) $200 million for past and future mental anguish (compensatory damages) and $1 billion in exemplary damages.

D.L. is represented by lead trial lawyer Bradford J. Gilde and Bradley G. Ertl of Gilde Law Firm, PLLC, of Houston, and co-counsel Jacob Schiffer of Schiffer Law Firm, PLLC, of Houston.

The jury saw evidence that Jackson reacted to the couple's 2020 breakup "with the intent to embarrass, harass, torment, humiliate, and publicly shame" D.L.

Lead trial lawyer Bradford J. Gilde, of Gilde Law Firm, PLLC, said, "We are grateful the jury took a strong stand against the defendant's abhorrent behavior and against imaged-based sexual abuse. While a judgment in this case is unlikely to be recovered, the compensatory verdict gives D.L. back her good name. The punitive verdict also is the jury's plea to raise awareness of this tech-fueled national epidemic. We will forever admire D.L.'s courage in fighting back. We hope the staggering amount of this verdict sends a message of deterrence and prevents others from this engaging in this despicable activity."

Gilde said the defendant committed imaged-based sexual abuse, often characterized as "revenge porn," to inflict a combination of psychological abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse. Trial evidence showed that Jackson intended for D.L.'s pain to last "forever," as he wrote: "[Y]ou will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking. Happy Hunting."

According to the National Association of Attorneys General, by 2019, at least 40 million people had reported being victims of imaged-based sexual abuse.

The case is "Jane Doe (D.L.) v. Marques Jamal Jackson," Cause No. 202220061 in the 113^th State District Court of Harris County, Texas.

Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks  LLC, for Gilde Law Firm, PLLC, [email protected], 281.703.6000.

SOURCE Gilde Law Firm, PLLC