Former Congresswoman Katie Hill has filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband, multiple media outlets and a Santa Clarita school board member alleging the distribution of non-consensual nude photos.
Hill sued her ex-husband, Kenneth Heslep, the parent companies for the sites Daily Mail and RedState, as well as William S. Hart Union High School District Board Member Joe Messina, according to the 41-page legal document filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday.
“Less than five months after the breakup, naked images of Hill that only Heslep had previously possessed were published globally on the internet, alongside intimate text messages and cruel lies,” the lawsuit reads. “Media defendants helped Heslep maximize injury to Hill, widely amplifying and publishing deeply private and degrading confidential information and false statements, all supplied by Heslep.”
The lawsuit seeks damages, in which the amount is not specified, for emotional distress and violation of state law for the distribution of nude photos without Hill’s consent.
Hill alleges her life was “irreparably altered by the abuse and nonconsensual dissemination and publication of her intimate images,” the suit said.
See Related: Congresswoman Katie Hill Delivers Final Speech After Resignation
The suit lists as defendants Salem Media Group Inc., the parent company of RedState, Mail Media, Inc., the parent company of the Daily Mail, as well as writer Jennifer Van Laar, the deputy managing editor of RedState, and Joe Messina, among other unnamed defendants.
“Frankly, I cannot comment on it because I haven’t been served with anything,” Messina said, adding he is expected to make a statement when his lawyers receive the lawsuit.
This new legal action comes two weeks after Hill filed a restraining order against her ex-husband alleging a pattern of abuse.
A judge granted the restraining order against Heslep, requiring him to stay 100 yards away from his ex-wife, her relatives and pets.
Hill resigned in November of 2019 after the nude photos were leaked and an ethics investigation was started over an alleged relationship with a staffer.
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation on Hill involving allegations of sexual affairs with staffers, after Hill called for an investigation into the publication of explicit photos of herself that were posted online without her permission.
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