In the country's toughest revenge porn ruling to date, UGotPosted operator Kevin Bollaert was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday, the L.A. Times reports.

In February, the 28-year-old San Diego man was convicted of 21 counts of identity theft and six counts of extortion, crimes connected to a revenge porn scheme where Bollaert posted nude photos of women submitted by angry ex-lovers and then charged hundreds of dollars for the images to be taken down.

"I ended up in mental hospitals twice because of this," said one of Bollaert's victims at his sentencing hearing yesterday, visibly shaking during her testimony. "It's been so traumatizing and I just want my life to get back to the way it was."

In response to the ruling, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris released a statement promising severe punishment for the operators of "cyber-exploitation" websites.

"Sitting behind a computer, committing what is essentially a cowardly and criminal act will not shield predators from the law or jail," said Harris. "We will continue to be vigilant and investigate and prosecute those who commit these deplorable acts."

[ Image via KNSD//h/t The Daily Dot]