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6 months ago
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Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear arrived at court 15 minutes late today to hear how much money he must pay for posting a sex-tape of his former partner Georgia Harrision on his OnlyFans website.
The former Celebrity Big Brother winner wore a pink opened-neck shirt, grey trousers and designer slippers as he walked into Chelmsford Crown Court at 2.15pm for a 2pm hearing.
His former partner, Love Island contestant Ms Harrison, had arrived on time.
Judge Christopher Morgan, who will decide how much of the estimated £22,300 profit Bear made from the pornography must pay to the state, was forced to delay proceedings.
On January 26 this year, Bear was found to have profited £22,305.46 from the CCTV footage from August 2, 2020.
At the time of the video, Bear was posing as 'a billionaire' on his Twitter and YouTube accounts but was 'in fact heavily overdrawn', Essex Police financial investigator Laura Mackenzie told the court in January.
Prosecutor Andrew Bousfield added 'despite pretending to be a billionaire, his most valuable asset at the time was selling sexual videos'.
His main asset at the time was £60,000 in owning his house, the court heard.
His OnlyFans subscriber count was said to have jumped 43 per cent as a result of the video, from 1,061 when it was uploaded on November 8, 2020 to 1,883 by the time his account was de-activated on December 8.
The footage was available to subscribers behind a $9.99 (£7.84) paywall on his profile '@hollywoodbear'.
Stephen Bear wore an open pink shirt as he arrived at Chelmsford Crown Court to hear how much money he must pay for posting a sex-tape of his former partner Georgia Harrision
Bear was seen giving a thumbs-up as he arrived 15 minutes late to the court hearing
Georgia Harrison (centre) was also seen arriving at court for today's hearing
There was said to have been a 'jump up' in the $9.99 purchases when the footage started 'go viral' and Ms Harrison became aware of it.
A total of 273 subscribers purchased the video and, following the standard 20 per cent cut to OnlyFans, this earned him £1,650.98, the court heard.
After the video was posted he adjusted his subscription fee, from a range of $7.50 (£5.89) to $50 (£39.28).
Through extra subscribers drawn in by the video, he was found to have earned £15,440.28, on top of the £1,650.98 earned through the paywall, Ms Mackenzie told the court.
Calculations on how much Bear earned from the video were debated during the hearing, and the judge noted that this was troubled by the convicted sex offender refusing take the stand and provide evidence.
Judge Christopher Morgan accepted Ms Mackenzie's valuation of his profits, and acknowledged it was difficult to deduce precisely what each new subscriber sought when they joined his account after the video's release.
He said: 'He had, by the time the account had been set up, filmed himself and Georgia Harrison, that material being the subject of the criminal charges that he faced.
Ms Harrison arrives at Bear's revenge porn confiscation hearing
'The defendant plainly intended that that material would be placed onto his OnlyFans account.'
The OnlyFans hearing in January then moved immediately into a second case regarding a fence around Bear's property that Epping Forest District Council claims is too tall.
It was reiterated that Bear was unemployed and had no immediate prospects of getting a job.
His defence barrister in the second hearing said: 'He doesn't have a car to his name – we ask for a modest financial penalty, there seems to be little purpose in hammering him with significant financial penalty.
'As of today, there isn't employment, and there isn't a guaranteed contract (of employment), but certainly the impression is that he's dedicated to making a lawful professional career.'
Judge Morgan acknowledged that he had 'no certain or paid employment' at present, but was satisfied Bear could pay the money.
He was ordered to pay a £500 fine and £4,707.05 in costs in 56 days.
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