Kathryn Novak is represented by Michael Avenatti, who has shot to fame by representing Stormy Daniels
An Arizona student is suing a Florida fraternity and a number of its members, claiming that nude photos and videos taken of her in sexual acts were distributed electronically without her consent, including on a private Facebook page.
Kathryn Novak, a student in Prescott, Arizona, filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Florida this week against the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity at the University of Central Florida, a public institution in Orlando where she had been having a long-distance relationship with a Delta Sigma Phi member. She is being represented in the violation-of-privacy lawsuit by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who has shot to prominence through his representation of adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump.
Novak's relationship with UCF student Brandon Simpson began in October 2017, during which they'd see each other a couple of times a month and communicate regularly via text messages and email, the lawsuit states. But during the course of their relationship, he forwarded a recording he took of a sexual encounter with Novak to at least five of the frat's members, the lawsuit states. The video was also disseminated to be viewed during their fraternity house meeting, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit says that more than 200 students at the school received the video, but no one from the fraternity ever requested that he delete the video or take it down. Simpson was not able to be immediately reached for comment.
Novak discovered that the video existed and had been shared in March, the lawsuit says. She also learned that members of the fraternity had a secret Facebook page called the "Dog Pound," which the students used to post nude videos and pictures of women and others in sexual acts, the lawsuit says.
"It takes a lot of bravery and courage for a woman to come forward under these circumstances, especially a young woman, but she's intent on doing so to make sure that this doesn't happen to other women," Avenatti said in a statement published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages. After the lawsuit was filed, Delta Sigma Phi, whose motto is "Better men. Better lives," said that it would suspend its University of Central Florida chapter.
"While we cannot comment on specific allegations made in the lawsuit, these claims are disturbing and antithetical to our organization's values and mission," it said in a statement.
The university said it was doing its own investigation into the incident.
"These allegations are contrary to our core values," the university said in a statement. "Although UCF is not a party to the suit, we are gathering information."
"Revenge pornography" has been a stubborn problem on digital forums like Facebook for a while, though last year the social media giant took additional steps it said would help tamp down the problem. Dozens of states have laws that criminalize the publication of these types of images, but they vary in strength and are complicated by the boundary-less nature of the Internet.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)