Former MP Katie Hill, D-Calif., Filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against her ex-husband and several media outlets for distributing “non-consensual pornography”, including photos of her nude and a female employee, which caused a scandal that forced her to resign from Congress last year.
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The suit alleges that Hill’s ex-husband Kenneth Heslep and Mail Media Inc., father of the Daily Mail, and Salem Media Group Inc., owner of RedState, conspired and distributed intimate images of her without her consent.
Heslep had previously denied similar allegations after Hill’s intimate photos leaked to the media and rumors that she was in a relationship called “throuple” with Heslep and a Congresswoman.
As the scandal unfolded last October, the Daily Mail published a photo of what appeared to be Hill, 33, naked and holding a pipe, and another of her kissing the campaign official.
The photos emerged shortly after the conservative website RedState.org posted screenshots of various text messages between Hill and the employee detailing the reported end of their three-person relationship earlier in the year and reported in intimate photos, including a nude photo of Hill brushing the employee’s hair.
According to the texts shown, Hill wanted to focus on his work and suggested that “political risk” was a factor.
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The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, and reported for the first time by NBC News, also alleges that Heslep intentionally inflicted emotional suffering on her and that companies engaged in unfair business practices by violating privacy laws.
The lawsuit invokes the First Amendment and says it does not protect the media’s attempt to “sexually degrade and expose public officials”.
This comes two weeks after a judge approved a temporary restraining order against Heslep, ordering him to stay at least 100 yards from Hill, his mother and sister, as well as his dog, goat and horse. She claimed that he had killed his pets in the past to terrorize her.
Hill said Heslep launched a “scorched earth attack” against her after she filed for divorce after a 15-year relationship that started when she was 16.
Hill is seeking unspecified monetary damages and wants the images to be permanently removed from media sites and all physical copies permanently destroyed.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.