Website reveals nude photographs of local high school girls

Users request images of current, former students

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – At first glance, the website resembles an online yearbook, featuring logos and mascots of more than a dozen Central Florida high schools: Boone, West Orange, Freedom, Dr. Phillips, Ocoee, Olympia, Lake Howell, Haggerty, Winter Springs, Lake Brantley, Wekiva, Lyman, Osceola and Deland high schools.

But clicking on those web links reveals hundreds of nude photographs of current and former high school students, all of which have been posted by anonymous users.

Besides the explicit images, the website also contains hundreds more photos of clothed women, likely stolen from their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Those portraits are being used to solicit "wins," a code word for nude photographs.

While some users have requested naked images of current high school girls, others have posted messages hoping to obtain photos of women who graduated as far back as 14 years ago, including a few who are now married and have children.

"It just kind of freaks me out," said one former Lake Howell student, who asked that we refer to her as Elaine to shield her identity, so she could speak freely about the website. "It's honestly disgusting. I didn't think anybody I went to high school with would ever do that."

Elaine said she had no idea someone was using her Facebook profile photo as bait for nude pictures until Local 6 News brought it to her attention. Although she said there are no revealing images of her out there, Elaine is worried about other former classmates who have shared nude photos with others, including an old high school friend.

"She said she knows one person she sent that picture to. She didn't know if he could have sent it to somebody else and they posted it. Or maybe he posted it," said Elaine.

Elaine indicated her friend may have been a minor when the nude photograph was taken.

"She said she took that in seventh grade or eighth grade, maybe," said Elaine.

News4Jax sister station Local 6 has been unable to independently verify the ages of the women pictured on the website. Since it could potentially contain illegal images, Local 6 provided the website address to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A representative from the state agency did not return follow-up phone calls inquiring about the matter.

Local 6 is not publishing the address of the website. Online records indicate the website domain is associated with CloudFlare, a California-based company that, among other services, acts as a reverse proxy to protect website host providers from cyber attacks.

"(CloudFlare) does not provide hosting services for any website," said representative Amanda Purvis, who did not confirm whether the company had a business relationship with the pornographic website.

However, Purvis indicated anyone who suspects a CloudFlare client's website might contain child pornography could file an abuse report with the company.

"I hope they shut it down," said Elaine's father, who also asked that Local 6 to conceal his identity. "It's upsetting when it's a family member and somebody you love and care about."

Although the father does not like the idea of teenagers posting nude photos of their classmates, he is even more concerned about others who might visit the website, such as rapists and pedophiles.

"Something that may have started as a high school boy trying to access nudie pictures could turn into something that's a very bad thing for one or more of these girls," said Elaine's father.

In May, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that makes it a misdemeanor to maliciously publish identifiable nude photographs without the subject's consent. Repeat violators could be charged with a felony. The "sexual cyberharassment" law, which goes into effect on Oct. 1, also allows victims to file lawsuits against those who break the law.

Elaine and her father want to remind teens that private photographs do not always stay private. They also want the people who posted the photos on the pornographic website to be criminally prosecuted.

"There are plenty of porn movies or pictures of models," said Elaine. "Why do you need (nude photos of) people you know and people you went to high school with?"