Stephen Bear shared sex footage with ex 'for money', court told

Stephen Bear denies voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films

Reality TV star Stephen Bear shared footage of him having sex with an ex-girlfriend "for profit" on the website OnlyFans, a court has heard.

Mr Bear, 32, from Loughton, Essex, is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court accused of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films.

Georgia Harrison, his ex partner, claims when she found out about the footage she told him never to share it.

Mr Bear denies all charges against him.

Representatives of Ms Harrison, who has appeared on TV shows such as The Only Way Is Essex, Love Island and Olivia Meets Her Match, said she had waived her right to anonymity in relation to the case.

Jacqueline Carey KC, opening the prosecution, said: "In August 2020 the complainant Georgia Harrison met up with her former boyfriend Stephen Bear.

"They had some lunch and had some drinks and ended up back at his house in Loughton, in Essex.

"They engaged in consensual sexual intercourse in his garden.

"What she didn't know - but he did - was Mr Bear had CCTV cameras in his garden that recorded them having sex."

'Profited financially'

The barrister said later that day Mr Bear, who appeared in the MTV show Ex On The Beach, told Ms Harrison and showed her the footage.

Ms Carey said Bear later uploaded the footage "either himself or had it uploaded to OnlyFans and profited financially".

"The defendant was effectively selling the footage to get money," Ms Carey said.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place in August 2020 and in November 2020.

Ms Carey said Mr Bear's OnlyFans account was opened in October 2020, closed in December 2020 and had 1,061 subscribers, with 273 people paying 9.99 US dollars (£8.15) to watch the footage.

She said the defendant was arrested at Heathrow airport on his way back from Dubai on 15 January 2021, but the phone he was using in Dubai "was never recovered".

'No idea'

Ms Harrison, 27, giving evidence from behind screens, said she and Mr Bear had sex in his garden and she had "absolutely no idea I was on camera during the time we were having sex".

She said Mr Bear told her later the pair may have been "accidentally recorded" on CCTV and she asked to see the footage.

"I was really drunk and I knew in the morning I was going to want to know what was on there," she said.

"I told him it would completely ruin my life and ruin his career and if he was to send it to anyone it's revenge porn and you can go to prison for revenge porn."

She said that, weeks later, she was told the footage was online and, after enlisting the help of an "ethical hacker", she "found out it originated from [Mr Bear's] OnlyFans".

'It's absurd'

Her mother, who was her manager at the time, subscribed to the account and saw a post from 8 November 2020 with a screenshot from the footage, she told the court.

She said she sent the screenshot to police, adding: "To actually be monetising off of it - it's absurd."

Asked by Ms Carey why she waived her right to anonymity, Ms Harrison said: "My right to anonymity realistically disappeared the moment it [the footage] surfaced."

The trial, expected to last at least four days, continues.