Stephen Bear claimed to only have £60,000 to his name as he attended court today for a confiscation hearing over an order to pay former girlfriend Georgia Harrison £200,000 in damages for revenge porn.
The shamed reality star, who was freed from HMP Brixton last week after serving half of his 21-month sentence, claimed that sum was all that remained after the sale of a house.
Bear has previously been told to pay Georgia £207,000 in damages after she took him to court in a breach of privacy case. It was the highest sum to be awarded in an image abuse case and one of the highest awards of all time in a privacy claim arising out of a single act.
But after being brought forward to pay more, the Crown Prosecuting Council told the court today: ‘Mr Bear is not a millionaire. He has £60,000 from the sale of a house and little else.’
It was also revealed that Bear made just £22,000 profit from leaking a sex tape of his Love Island ex-girlfriend on the online subscription porn site OnlyFans, a court heard.
The number of subscribers to Bear’s OnlyFans account exploded by 65 per cent within a month of his posting the film of him having sex with reality TV star Georgia.
And he made a ‘criminal profit’ of £22,305.46 from charging viewers $9.99 to the US-based image sharing platform to view the film which he uploaded on 8th November 2020.
Stephen Bear is appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing
Bear claimed to only have £60,000 to his name as he attended court today
The convicted sex offender arrived at Chelmsford Crown Court this morning in a suit and sunglasses
Bear arriving at court with his mother Linda Bear (left) and father Stephen Bear Snr (middle)
He could be ordered to pay former girlfriend Georgia Harrison more than £200,000 in damages for revenge porn
Bear, 34, from Walthamstow, east London, wore a double-breasted black suit, white shirt and navy blue tie, as he sat in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court for the Proceeds of Crime hearing.
Since his release, Bear has kept up a shameless spree of self-promotion, including sharing another cringeworthy TikTok video on Wednesday.
Mere days after his release from prison, Stephen reportedly begged fans to message him as he lay back in his bed in a new video, where he also admitted he is ‘skint’ and complained about his mouldy walls.
Bear is currently single after his former fiancée Jessica Smith ditched him not long after vowing to stand by him while he was behind bars.
Amid the revenge porn allegations, Bear had a very short-lived romance with Tia McAlister, 18, and they tried to keep their relationship under wraps before being pictured together just days after his arrest.
Prior to his arrest and prison stint, Bear had a string of high profile relationships including with Geordie Shore’s Charlotte Crosby, Jemma Lucy and Vicky Pattison.
Despite being reviled by the nation for his showboating at court, Bear appeared to show no remorse as he filmed himself posing shirtless in the mirror to Man Don’t Care by Jme ft Giggs in another video.
He added the cryptic caption: ‘I got your back. I wont let you down ❤️ #fyp #movitation’.
While he was no doubt hoping his post would leave the ladies swooning, it had the opposite effect, with his followers quick to point out that it looked like he was ‘in a Wetherspoons toilet’ and he needed to ‘clean his mirror’.
Taking time out from posing shirtless, Bear told The Mirror he was ‘overwhelmed’ after leaving prison, saying: ‘You come out and you realise “Oh, I’ve lost everything”, everything is gone, everything you can imagine is gone.
‘It’s taken me a couple of days. I came home and the first night, I was crying, when I was in bed, I was crying.’
Bear, who lost his scruffy beard within hours of leaving the prison, said earlier this month he couldn’t wait to get his life ‘back on track’.
Since his release, Bear has kept up a shameless spree of self-promotion, including sharing another cringeworthy TikTok video on Wednesday
The convicted sex offender has been given a restraining order and told not to contact Georgia Harrison (who he’s pictured with) for five years
Ms Harrison is appearing on the current series of Love Island. She’s pictured on the show last night with her pairing, Luis Morrison
A January 4 post on X that was apparently dictated by Bear from behind bars said: ‘I will be leaving Brixton prison on the 17th January. Can’t wait to get my life back on track. Who’s excited to see me?’
Returning to social media on Tuesday he shared a bizarre video of himself jogging across a park and shadow boxing in a clinging white vest and tight black jogging bottoms.
In a comment, he says: ‘It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forword [sic] …’
Legend – a film about former boxer Reggie Kray and his twin brother Ron – depicts their gruesome and brutal career within the criminal underworld of London. It was criticised at the time for not pointing out their violence forcefully enough.
As Bear continues to make cringeworthy social media content for his followers, in contrast his ex Ms Harrison has been earning a legion of fans on Love Island All Stars.
She has returned to the iconic villa for a second chance at love alongside a series of other past contestants and has been hitting it off with Scottish entrepreneur, Anton Danyluk.
Bear was jailed in March 2023 after being convicted of voyeurism, disclosing private, sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and harassment without violence.
Since then he has had to vacate his Essex home entirely – he was forced to sell the property last year after being ordered to pay out £207,000 to Ms Harrison in damages for breach of privacy.
In August, his then-fiancée Jessica Smith was seen moving her belongings out of the £525,000 three-bedroom end-of-terrace house.
Bear pictured in December 2022 before he went to prison (left) and last week (right)
Ms Harrison has demanded abuse cases are given priority in courts
Bear with Jessica Smith – who had vowed to stand by him while he was in prison, but later dumped him
However, she, as well as the house, will no longer be in Bear’s life after she ditched him just a month later despite vowing to stand by him while he was behind bars.
She shared a video on TikTok showing a montage of videos filmed with her new boyfriend and wrote in a caption how she looked ‘happier now’.
Bear, by contrast, was said to be heartbroken by the split.
He may have more pressing concerns though now, such as abiding by the terms of his early release on licence.
The move, which means he is essentially serving the rest of his sentence in the community, imposes some restrictions on his freedom and leaves him with the threat of being sent back to prison if he breaks these.
Women’s Aid, a charity that aims to end domestic violence against women and children, slammed his early release.
It said: ‘Following today’s news of the release of Stephen Bear, only 11 months into his sentence, our thoughts are with Georgia Harrison and other survivors affected by image-based sexual abuse crimes like so-called ‘revenge porn’.
‘From our work with survivors, we know that violence against women not being taken seriously is one of the main reasons preventing many from reporting the crimes to police.
‘Seeing perpetrators being released from sentences early, in this instance serving under a year, also has an impact on women coming forward in the future.
‘With trust in the criminal justice system already dangerously low, we need to ensure women feel both safe from abusers and that they can see the justice system understanding the severity of the crime committed.
‘Short sentences leave too many women thinking, ‘what is the point of going through a trial for that?’
‘So-called ‘revenge porn’ has a devastating effect on a survivor’s sense of autonomy and privacy, as well as a long-lasting impact on their mental health, and the criminal justice system needs to reflect this.’
Bear was sentenced to 21 months after being convicted of voyeurism, disclosing private, sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and harassment without violence
These include having to remain in touch with the police, telling officers if he’s going to be staying somewhere that isn’t his permanent address and wearing an ankle tag.
One criminologist said that Bear could also be subject to restrictions on his use of mobile phones and the internet, and be barred from taking part in certain events or going to certain places.
Aside from restrictions on his freedom, Bear could also face financial issues as he tries to resurrect his career, although PR experts have warned it is unlikely any mainstream outlet would even go near him following his conviction.
Andy Barr, co-founder of agency 10 Yetis Digital, told : ‘Right now, Stephen Bear is too toxic a brand for anyone mainstream to want to work with him.
‘I can’t see an easy way in the short to medium term for him to reintegrate into the consumer media world.
‘He is best to go down the tried and tested crisis recovery path of keeping away from all media commentary or profile for a significant period of time, and then seeing if a return is possible.
‘Commercially, his best potential revenue stream is to try and monetise his social media content via the likes of YouTube, but he would have strict parameters around his content because of his previous criminal activity.’
Brand and Culture expert Nick Ede added that Bear would be ‘limited’ in what he does under the terms of his release.
‘But as someone who is obsessed with the limelight I don’t think it will be long until we see him using social media platforms to comment on both Georgia being on Love Island All Stars and his prison sentence,’ he said.
‘I think he will want to tell all who listen about how he is innocent but ultimately his limited career is dead and he’s disgraced and he has nowhere to go.
‘No one will want to be associated with him in the mainstream media.
‘He may resort to going back to being on OnlyFans and making money that way but as long he has his ankle tag on, his future in the limelight which he craves, looks very bleak.’