Who is Georgia Harrison?
From Day 1, Georgia Harrison found herself settling in quite well on the hit reality dating show, Love Island. Although her time in the villa came to a close before the finale, Georgia Harrison’s career went on further in a pursuit to expand her presence as an influencer.
Later she co-founded GHX Style, where she gained over 18.6K followers on Instagram and received favoured support from fans as she became a public figure leading a beloved sports brand.
Dating Stephen Bear.
Georgia met Stephen Bear on the set of The Challenge, a reality show they participated in together. The two started dating in November 2018 and the relationship began. However, they broke it off a month later and between 2018 and 2020, the two were spotted on a few accounts, attempting to rekindle their relationship.
Until August 2020, Harrison and Bear were reported to have met up for drinks after which they had engaged in sexual intercourse that took place in Bear’s garden. Harrison was unaware of security cameras, installed by Bear, present overlooking the garden, which meant her encounter with Bear had been captured on film against her consent.
Harrison had come to know of the security footage and begged Bear to conceal the video. Sources further claimed that she had implored, making it thoroughly clear to Bear that the tape was not to be shown to anyone and if it was shown, it was not with her consent and would cause immense emotional distress.
The Crime Unfolds.
In a predatory attempt to capitalise on their personal encounter, Bear’s first move was to retrieve the footage and forward the video on WhatsApp. The video circulated and reached multiple of their peers.
The video eventually made its way on the OnlyFans platform, a space that has become increasingly popular, especially amongst content creators today.
Primarily, OnlyFans is used by sex workers to produce pornography however the platform has developed to be utilised by content creators in other industries ranging from fitness to entertainment, by which the platform now accommodates a wide, very diverse demographic worldwide.
The Chain Reaction – Down a Defenseless Rabbit Hole.
The video caused a frenzy online, a viral effect that confirmed Harrison’s worst fears when she had begged Bear to bury the video, scared of the risk of it reaching the public eye.
“When I first realised the video was out there for everyone to see, my first thought was, ‘How am I going to tell my dad?”
She further iterated in the interview, “Imagine how embarrassing it is for my dad knowing that all of his friends are aware that there is this really explicit video of his daughter out there. A boy even accidentally sent it to my uncle without realising we were related.” The chain reaction had progressively become worse, a nightmare she found hard to comprehend within the time the video was still circling the internet.
At the time, Harrison had come to know of the leak, she was in Dubai caught in the pandemic lockdown. She claimed she felt extreme helplessness and the rooms she entered wreaked of sheer animosity, that judgment amongst her peers and family was insanely impactful. So much so, her immediate family suffered the consequences of mockery and intruding questions about her from members of their community.
Not only did Harrison feel she had succumbed to being a laughingstock, but her career was also gravely affected as brands cut her out of contracts due to negative association and the possibility of backlash, afraid it would hurt their brand integrity. Georgia’s public presence turned into a negative undertone in the influencer market. The issue further crippled her financially and Harrison claimed she had to move back with her mother.
“By this time I realised it was out of my control and there was no way I could stop this video from spreading.”
Harrison also later told the Sun in an interview, that she had fallen very ill due to extreme stress which affected a cyst in her ovary that led to a serious infection, to which doctors had said if she had held out for a day more, Harrison would have died.
Bear Arrested and Charged.
A police report was filed against Bear as soon as Harrison had realised the source of this tragedy where she fell victim to revenge porn.
Georgia contacted the Essex police and filed a police report against Bear, subsequently followed by an investigation into the report by the Essex Police Domestic Abuse Investigation Team in December 2020. On the 15th of January 2021, Stephen Bear was arrested at Heathrow Airport, on grounds of suspicion of disclosing private sexual images without consent and voyeurism. Later in May, Bear was charged with both offenses but was released on bail.
Bear was later discovered breaching his bail conditions in February 2022, whereby he was caught discussing sensitive case elements on social media which included attempts to ridicule Harrison’s reaction to the video going viral. He was again arrested on that account and later charged.
What is sympathy? – Bear’s Reaction as a Labeled Criminal.
Bear’s appearance showed no sign of empathy or remorse amidst his arrest up until his trial. Even an act to display vulnerability was lost on him, rather his reaction was objectively confident, strolling alongside his now partner Jessica Smith. The BBC recounted further that Bear would also turn up in a rented Rolls Royce, wearing a large fur coat which the court described as a, “self-obsessed show-off.”
The Court Rules – “Thank you for that observation”
On 3rd March, Stephen Bear was found guilty of voyeurism, whereby the alleged sex tape was uploaded on OnlyFans and therefore sentenced to 21 months of prison.
The jury found Bear guilty by unanimous verdicts of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress and a majority verdict of 10 jurors found him guilty on two counts of voyeurism.
In response to the verdict, the Guardian reported that Bear denied all charges claiming that it was unfair and that he was fighting a losing battle. He had further added that after Harrison told him to delete the footage, he did as requested, and concluded with, “Why would I have that on my phone?”
Following Bear’s comment on the charges, Judge Christopher Morgan replied with, “Thank you for that observation.” The response was a mere acknowledgment of Bear’s attempt to compensate for his side of the story, however, given his behavior throughout the trial it became clear the odds that Bear might have been innocent, were not in his favour.
A United Front.
“I hope taking a stand gives other men and women who have fallen victim to revenge porn the courage to seek justice and most importantly show them that they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”
Giving her statement to the press, Ms Harrison is relieved that the case that had dragged on for over two years has ended on a much favored account. Although, her stance on the issue of revenge porn has become more pressing.
“I have felt ashamed, hurt, violated, even broken at times but today I stand here feeling empowered, grateful, and a huge sense of unity with all of those who have reached out to support me throughout this ordeal.”
Harrison received substantial support in her case moving forward. BBC noted the former police officer in charge of helping to bring this case to trial, Michelle Roycroft, who provided in her statement regarding Harrison’s move to waive her rights to anonymity and take a stand.
“Georgia wanted to make sure that everybody understood that this was an offense that wasn’t OK and that she could stand up to him,”
