Leaked sex tape costs software engineer a home

The United States-based software engineer accused of causing the leak of videos and photographs of a sexual encounter with a Jamaican attorney has lost a multimillion-dollar home in St Ann, which has been sold to settle a judgment handed down by the Supreme Court.

Rodrick Brown, who resides in New York City, could possibly lose a second apartment as the attorney, Kimberley Facey, has filed documents in court seeking to recover millions of dollars in legal costs she incurred in pursuing the lawsuit against him.

In February 2024, the Supreme Court ordered Brown to pay Facey $11 million in damages, with annual interest of three per cent dating back to October 2020, and $480,000 for future medical care, The Sunday Gleaner reported in February 2024, citing court documents.

He was also ordered to destroy all videos and/or images of Facey in his possession or control, and a “final injunction” bars him or his agent from releasing, posting or uploading the images.

The orders were made at the end of a “novel” lawsuit she filed for breach of confidence, an old and rarely used common law cause of action.

Brown’s attorney at the time, Xavier Leveridge, argued that the case was not determined on its merits.

“It was determined procedurally. So it’s not a case where the judge would have heard the merits of the case and made a decision,” he said.

The debt remained unpaid for months.

D’Angelo Foster, the current attorney for the software engineer, confirmed yesterday that a townhouse his client owned in Runaway Bay has been sold and that the proceeds were used to settle the debt.

The townhouse was sold for $36 million and transferred to its new owners on July 16 this year, according to official records at the Land Titles Division of the National Land Agency.

Brown bought the property for $14.5 million in 2018 with a $13.8-million mortgage from a Jamaican commercial bank, the records show.

“One property was enough to cover the judgment sum. By the time you take out the mortgage and take out whoever is to get paid, the excess was enough to cover the judgment sum,” he told The Sunday Gleaner, making reference to the $12 million court-ordered payment.

Foster said the appeal filed by Brown challenging the ruling in the lawsuit “will have to be withdrawn because the judgment debt is now settled”.

Second property

Facey’s legal team has also turned its attention to a second property owned by Brown as they seek to recover nearly $20 million in costs or legal expenses they claim were incurred in pursuing the lawsuit, court documents show.

However, Brown’s attorney said talk of selling a second apartment is premature, noting that the court process to determine costs is still ongoing.

“The taxation process is yet to be completed, which will determine the amount of cost payable to her. So, therefore, she can’t expect to venture into any enforcement proceedings because there is no judgment,” Foster explained.

The leaked photographs and videos, which were splashed across some of the more popular social media platforms, showed Facey and Brown engaging in sexual activities inside a St Andrew apartment in July 2020.

Facey detailed in her lawsuit the embarrassment, as well as the mental and emotional anguish, she endured after she was alerted via social media to one of the video recordings on July 13, 2020.

However, during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner in February 2024, a defiant Facey said she elected to file the lawsuit in her name rather than anonymously because “I am somebody”.

The attorney indicated, too, that she wants her case to be a powerful example to both men and women that they do not have to cower in silence, but that they can fight back.

“Kim Facey was attacked and Kim Facey answered. The case was personal to me,” she said at the time.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com