The relationship between “D.L.” and her boyfriend started to fall apart in 2020, while they were living together in Chicago. Not long after that, as D.L.’s lawyers tell it, the spying began.
Fueled by what attorneys describe as “delusional and paranoid” jealousy, her ex, Marques Jamal Jackson, logged into a security system in D.L.’s mother’s house in Texas, where D.L. had moved temporarily. He began recording her every move, without her knowledge or consent.
Over the next few years, Jackson ramped up his efforts against D.L. ― who is identified in court documents by her initials, or as “Jane Doe” ― to publicly shame her and upend her life. He took advantage of access to her phone, email, social media and bank accounts, and even hacked into her company’s security system.
He gathered explicit images of D.L., along with her personal information, and shared them with the world, via a publicly accessible Dropbox folder, a page on a prominent pornography site and multiple social media platforms. He sent the links to her family, friends and co-workers.
On March 5, 2022, D.L.’s lawyers say, Jackson sent her a message: “You will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking ... Happy Hunting.”
These are just a few of the allegations laid out in a sweeping harassment lawsuit that D.L. filed against Jackson in April 2022. Last week, a jury in Harris County, Texas, awarded her $1.2 billion ― much more than what was originally sought ― in a verdict that serves as a message to anyone who would pursue a similar campaign of online abuse, according to a release from Gilde Law Firm, which represented D.L. in the suit.
Bradford Gilde, D.L.’s lead attorney, told The New York Times he doesn’t expect Jackson to pay out the full $1.2 billion ― though he told HuffPost “there are legal remedies that Jane Doe can pursue in execution on the judgment,” and that Jackson “will spend the rest of his life trying and failing to wipe this financial debt clear.”
“This trial was not about the money or the number, it was about the message,” Gilde told HuffPost. “We applaud the strength of Jane Doe to file this lawsuit and to set an example by warning others that, if you engage in image-based sexual abuse, you will spend the rest of your life with an excess judgment over your head.”
‘Be Careful What You Ask For’
According to court documents, Jackson and D.L. started dating in 2016, a relationship that began, as D.L. described it, as “one of mutual love and trust.”
As the years went on, D.L. entrusted Jackson with access to her and her mother’s personal information and accounts, including email, social media logins and electronic devices at her mother’s Texas home, including the security system.
Gilde told HuffPost that the relationship went downhill after Jackson lost his job in 2019, and the two separated in 2020.
That’s when Jackson allegedly began tapping into D.L.’s mother’s home security system to watch her.
According to court documents, Jackson grew “delusional and paranoid” after their breakup became official in October 2021, and he believed D.L. was having an intimate relationship with a mutual friend.
“It was around this time Mr. Jackson’s behavior went from childish to unlawfully tortious,” the lawsuit reads.
Gilde told HuffPost that D.L. began taking measures to document Jackson’s alleged attacks.
“As his activity increased, Jane Doe began keeping an excel spreadsheet itemizing the types of attacks, the publication method and addressees of those attacks, and the specific evidence of the attack,” Gilde said. “That spreadsheet ... spans 5 pages of activity over the course of 3+ years.”
D.L. told HuffPost that she was in a state of “shock and disbelief” when a person whom she trusted and loved for four years began to turn on her.
“I couldn’t wrap my mind around what was happening. It was such a deeply hurtful betrayal by someone I loved and trusted. And when it didn’t stop, I was met with an overwhelming feeling that I had no control,” D.L. said. “I felt violated and disgusting and a great shame. Those feelings only got worse as it continued.”
From October 2021 to March 2022, Jackson allegedly harassed D.L. by abusing her login information, including by changing her Zoom information and emailing her loan officer with a claim that she’d taken a fraudulent loan.
According to the lawsuit, Jackson continued to “torment” D.L. by posting explicit material of her online, making it available on a well-known pornography website and various social media accounts, where he tagged her workplace and her gym.
Jackson’s alleged actions have been described in some coverage of the suit as “revenge porn.” But Jacob Schiffer, who also represented D.L., told HuffPost that the term “cheapens” the case. He referred to it as image-based sexual abuse.
With revenge porn, “you think of people who are agreeing to pornography,” Schiffer said. “The basis of this case was that our client Jane Doe was unaware that videos are being recorded of her.”
Jackson made D.L.’s personal information available for anyone to access, including her name and home address, according to the lawsuit. He allegedly took things further by creating a website and uploading the explicit images to a Dropbox folder that was publicly accessible.
Jackson also had access to D.L.’s personal bank account, and used her money to pay his rent and make purchases without her consent, according to the suit.
He allegedly repeatedly called and texted D.L. using fake phone numbers, and used fake social media profiles to harass her friends, family and co-workers with her intimate images and private information.
Bradley Ertl, another lawyer in the case, toldHuffPost that Jackson dedicated his life to his plot, and that he would be up at night sending explicit images of his ex-girlfriend to people.
According to Gilde, D.L. tried everything in her power to stop Jackson, including pressing criminal charges, getting a restraining order and contacting the online platforms to take the material down, but she never got a helpful response from authorities.
“There was a vivid moment that I felt there was no escape. I felt I was completely hopeless,” D.L. said. “I felt no one would hear my plea for help.”
Jackson never responded officially to the lawsuit, and didn’t appear in court to defend himself, which Gilde suggested was an attempt to keep the verdict lower by automatic default judgment.
Attorneys told HuffPost that Jackson will now experience the same kind of long-lasting digital infamy he’d allegedly promised D.L. she’d have to endure.
“She absolutely won, and so every time this man tries to apply for a job, or tries to apply for credit, or maybe even gets a new girlfriend, all they need to do is Google our Marques Jamal Jackson, and what comes up is a $1.2 billion judgment,” Ertl said. “So be careful what you ask for.”
Reflecting on the case, D.L. urged any victims of malicious online campaigns to take back their power and document each incident.
“You are more than the shame you may feel. And you deserve to be your biggest advocate and know that there are people who recognize this behavior as the terrible crime it is,” D.L. said. “As we broaden knowledge on this type of abuse, we can collectively influence laws to better protect us in this digital age.”
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-866-331-9474 or text “loveis” to 22522 for the National Dating Abuse Helpline.