Former Miss West Virginia - Allison Williams - Awarded $7.2 Million In Law Suit Against Pornography Defendants Responsible For Falsely Claiming She Participated In Internet Sex Video

Morgantown, West Virginia (MMD Newswire) April 10, 2009 -- 2003 Miss West Virginia, Allison Williams has won a major legal victory after a grueling four year court battle against nine pornography defendants. A federal jury in Clarksburg yesterday awarded Miss Williams $7.2 million against porn industry defendants based on established claims of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy of Ms. Williams. Ms. Williams' trial team was headed by Parween Mascari and Ray Stoner of Jackson Kelly PLLC, headquarted in Charleston, WV. Ms. Mascari practices out of the firm's Morgantown, WV office and Mr. Stoner practices out of the firm's Pittsburgh, PA office.

Four years ago Ms. Williams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia seeking damages and injunctive relief from those responsible for selling a video on the internet which they falsely sold as depicting her, a former "Miss West Virginia." These pornography industry defendants are believed to have made millions of dollars by falsely claiming that Ms. Williams participated in the sex tape. Miss Williams continues to pursue additional claims against additional defendants.

Upon learning of the $7.2 million dollar verdict against these defendants, Ms. Williams stated "Almost everyone told me I could never win this fight. No one had ever taken on and challenged the internet pornography industry. I did not know where to begin and so I approached my lawyers at Jackson Kelly. I continued to fight these past four years because I wanted to clear my name and I wanted to hold these people accountable for what they did to me."

Ms. Williams discovered the defamatory websites as she was searching the internet for a newspaper article during her first weeks of law school at the West Virginia University College of Law, where she was attending law school on scholarship monies awarded through the Miss West Virginia and Miss America scholarship organizations. Ms. Williams retained Jackson Kelly in October 2004 to assist her in getting the offending materials removed from the pornographic websites. Her trial team introduced evidence and witnesses to the jury in proceedings that took place April 7 and 8, 2009 in the Clarksburg West Virginia Federal District Court before The Honorable Irene M. Keeley.

This verdict sends a powerful message to the internet pornography industry that it can no longer victimize innocent individuals by falsely portraying them as sex tape celebrities. In addition, the porn industry has long functioned in what it thought was unassailable secrecy. Owners of these offending porn sites were located, tracked down, served and sued by Ms. Williams and are now being held responsible for their salacious conduct.

Ms. Williams, commenting on the trial said "The trial forced me to relive painful years of my life that I have tried to forget and move past. But I pressed through in hopes that the jury would find the pornography defendants guilty. The jury held them responsible for their actions. My greatest hope is that other potential victims will be spared from what happened to me and that victims of defamation and emotional distress will have courage to fight back." Miss Williams wants to thank the many Jackson Kelly lawyers who helped her with this great victory - Parween Mascari, Ray Stoner, Steve LaCagnin, Andy Wright, Jonathan Deem, and Buddy Turner.

Ms. Williams' success in earning her Juris Doctorate degree under these circumstances is nothing short of remarkable. According to Ms. Williams "I struggled every single day to maintain my law school studies, in the face of incredible stress and anxiety. Still, I refused to allow these pornographers to control my dream to graduate from law school and realize my goals." After four years of fighting to clear her name, Allison Williams can finally begin to put the past behind her. Today, justice has been served.

Any media questions regarding this matter should be directed to Ms. Williams' spokesperson, Lavinia Mann Cummings at edaadvantage@hotmail.com or (412) 638-6721.

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