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Stephen Bear to face trial as he pleads not guilty to voyeurism and revenge porn charges

The Essex-based celebrity is accused of posting a sex video to porn websites without consent

Friday 30 July 2021 12:02 EDT

Stephen Bear when he appeared at a magistrates’ court earlier this month (PA)

Reality TV personality Stephen Bear is to go on trial next year after denying voyeurism and revenge porn charges.

He is alleged to have secretly filmed himself having sex with a woman in his home on 2 August last year.

Bear is accused of then posting the footage to pornography websites without her consent on 2 August and 8 November.

The 31-year-old from Loughton, Essex, appeared before a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.

Judge Christopher Morgan read out the charges of one count of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs or films with intent to cause distress. Bear responded with a ‘not guilty’ plea.

Bear then gave Judge Morgan a double thumbs-up after the plea hearing concluded.

He told the court: “Thank you for that. It’s nice to finally set a date when I can hopefully get my life back.”

When Bear arrived at court, he stood on the steps to pull poses for the cameras – which included the motions of firing an imaginary machine gun at the photographers.

As he left the court he did another thumbs-up to the photographers and shouted “not guilty” from the steps.

He has been released on bail to reappear before a jury on 7 February 2022. The trial is expected to last up to three days.

Judge Morgan warned him that a warrant would be issued for his arrest if he does not attend the trial when required.

Bear was arrested earlier this year on 15 January at Heathrow airport when he returned from Dubai, where he had been living since 2020.

Revenge porn – the revealing of private sexual images or videos online or offline without the consent of the person, with the aim of provoking distress – was made a criminal offence in 2015. Perpetrators face jail sentences of up to two years.

Bear first got a taste of fame as a contestant on Shipwrecked in 2011, and MTV’s Ex On The Beach in 2015 and 2016.

He won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, appeared on Celebs Go Dating in 2017, co-presented Just Tattoo Of Us on MTV in the same year, and then went on to be a contestant on MTV’s The Challenge in 2019 and 2020.