San Diego, Calif. – A man from California, who was convicted in April on offenses relating to his operation of a “revenge porn” website, is now explaining himself in an interview he conducted from prison.

Kevin Bollaert operated a website that allowed visitors to share nude images of former lovers, often without the agreement of the women featured in the pictures. The site also shared private details about these victims, including their real names, their home addresses and their social media profiles.

In addition to running that site, Bollaert also ran a second website that charged a fee to get images removed from the first site.

According to Bollaert, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on counts ranging from identity theft to extortion, he didn’t at first understand the magnitude of his actions.

“I thought it was more of, like, a joke, than damaging people’s lives to that extent, you know?” said Bollaert. He argued that he couldn’t understand how nude pictures could destroy lives.

He now says that attitude quickly changed once he saw the faces of the women who testified in court. The victims spoke about how their lives were affected when their nude pictures were suddenly available online.

“I understand that a lot of people were hurt a lot by the website. Especially when I saw them testify in court,” he said, adding it really hit home when he was “sitting in court and all the girls were testifying against me and crying.”

The question is whether Bollaert tryuly feels what he did was wrong, or just wants a chance at parole when his opportunity comes up in 2025. He offered this apology to one of his victims, Amy Cornes.

“I’m sorry for making the website, and I wish I never had done that. That’s pretty much it,” said Bollaert.

Cornes was quick to reject the apology.

“His apology seemed pretty insincere,” Cornes told Daily Mail Australia.

“I think he just feels sorry for himself because he’s in jail,” she added. “That’s honestly the only reason why he’s sorry.”