The trial went on for a week, where nine men and three women on the jury would decide her fate. Stephen continued to show the kind of arrogant contempt of a reality villain, notably disrespecting barristers and the judge in court, lying about evidence, showing no remorse and bragging about women he’d slept with. During the trial, Georgia was asked why she waived her right to anonymity, telling the court, “I’ve chosen to waive my anonymity because it disappeared the moment the footage surfaced. Stephen Bear hung me naked on a wall for millions of people to see,” adding, “And I don’t want any other woman to go through this.”
The process was incredibly exposing for Georgia, “You have to look at images of you[rself] having sex and you have to confirm that it’s you. Honestly, it’s awful.” She adds, “So for someone to go through that and not get the outcome they deserve, it just breaks my heart to think about that.” Georgia adds that for most people having to prove intention to cause distress is incredibly difficult, as they have to deal with calculated individuals, but in her case Stephen really showed his true colours, “the way he handled everything, his intent to cause distress was so clear.”
On December 13 2022, as Georgia was turning 28, Stephen Bear was found guilty on all three counts. I ask what it’s like looking back on that time. “There were times where I would just be so low,” she says, “but I had this inner knowing that everything was going to be OK. I just knew that justice would be served. I had to think, ‘I may prevent this from happening to so many young men or women in the future’, because people will be looking at Stephen Bear and thinking, ‘Wow, you just don’t do something like that. It’s just not OK.’”
On Friday 3 March 2023, almost three years since Georgia Harrison was filmed without her permission having sex, Stephen Bear was sentenced to 21 months in prison, he is on the Sex Offender Register (meaning he will have notification requirements to keep police updated with his address and whereabouts for 10 years), and has a restraining order on him to not contact Georgia for five years. He was also required to pay Georgia £207,900 in damages – the highest ever sum awarded in an image-abuse case. It’s the end of August 2023 when we meet and Georgia tells me she is still yet to receive the damages from him. “I haven’t received a penny from him,” she says explaining, “We actually got a charge on his house on the day of my court case, but a few hours before that he sold his house, which is actually worth just around £530,000, for £400,000, to a company. Which to me, I can’t even believe that that’s allowed to happen.” She adds, “And the company is now putting it back on the market for £530,000. But essentially, had the charge gone through, then I would’ve taken the money out of the house, with my lawyers, and that would’ve been it. But now he has the ability to pretty much withhold his assets. And I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to get any money from it. Not even the money I’ve put into the court.”
I ask her about the legal implications of him not paying her the court-ordered damages, “As far as I’m aware, it is legal, because I think if it wasn’t, my lawyers would know. I just can’t believe that someone is allowed to assist a prisoner, a sex offender, into selling assets whilst they’re going through a court case. It had been in the press all week that I was about to win money, so it’s crazy that there are these companies that you can go to, to assist you in that way.”