Our tale is both cautionary and bizarre. It is cautionary because this is a story of how two criminals, practiced and well-versed in exploiting Internet Law and the legal system, can wreak havoc upon so many lives (especially when they have a “prominent” attorney as a willing and engaged partner). Bizarre because there are aspects of this tale (such as Thomas C. Retzlaff's criminal past and present) which defy belief. The following only scratches the surface of what we have endured over the past 27-30 months.

BullyVille was launched in early 2013 and is responsible for shutting down three of the most infamous revenge porn websites (IsAnyoneUp, IsAnyoneDown and YouGotPosted). We have also been instrumental in identifying numerous sex offenders and serial stalkers who exploit social media platforms such as Twitter to victimize their targets. Our founder, James McGibney, is a former United States Marine (http://www.bullyville.com/?page=aboutus) who served two tours of duty with Third Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence group and Marine Security Guard Battalion, and the majority of our volunteers are former military. BullyVille has been featured on Yahoo, BBC, Wired Magazine, Late Night with Jimmy Falon, ABC Nightline, Forbes, Extra TV and Dr. Phil for our fight against pedophiles and revenge porn website operators.

Starting in the fall of 2013, McGibney and his family were being tormented with near daily threats to rape his wife and the murder of he and his wife and their young children. A few months’ prior, a Twitter account known as @MissAnonNews had begun to engage in a non-stop defamation campaign against McGibney by, among other things, falsely labeling him a pedophile. With the help of law enforcement, an investigation was conducted and it became apparent that two individuals with separate yet intersecting agendas had led and were primarily responsible for the barrage of defamation, threats and harassment:

Thomas C. Retzlaff (www.thomasretzlaff.com) and Neal Rauhauser (www.neal-rauhauser.com).

Thomas Retzlaff (one of the confirmed individuals who had been making the death threats) is a convicted felon who was sentenced to eight years in prison for possessing a concealed weapon on elementary school property while acting in a threatening manner. Retzlaff is also a court documented pedophile and rapist. A condition of his 2004 parole was that he register as a sex offender. Apparently he never complied with that directive and before the State of Texas could track him down, he went on the run, placing females and children of all ages at risk wherever Retzlaff may be (currently believed to be Phoenix, AZ). There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest for contempt of a California court – a state in which there are multiple restraining orders in place against him, including one his biological daughter has against him. BullyVille employees and Mr. McGibney's family have a permanent restraining order in place against Retzlaff as well. Retzlaff has set a record in the State of California, having violated a lawfully issued restraining order over 1,045 times. Retzlaff is a poster boy for revenge porn offenders. Via a hidden camera, Retzlaff surreptitiously and illegally obtained nude images of his biological daughter and subsequently posted those images on a myriad of websites and file sharing platforms.  BullyVille was responsible for taking down three of the revenge porn websites that Retzlaff used to post those illegally obtained naked images of his daughter and that enraged him. He began his attacks on BullyVille shortly thereafter.

Neal Rauhauser (the individual believed to be responsible for the @MissAnonNews Twitter account) has four outstanding warrants for his arrest for Internet harassment and stalking and is 14-years behind on child support payments (the number of years past due makes it rise to the level of a Federal crime). He has been on the run from law enforcement and child protective services for nearly a decade. Besides his extensive history as a deadbeat dad, Mr. Rauhauser has multiple restraining orders filed against him and he openly supports his partner in crime, court documented pedophile and rapist Thomas Retzlaff.

In early 2014, (apparently frustrated by the fact that neither McGibney nor ViaView - the parent company of Bullyville - had backed down from the intimidation tactics of Retzlaff, Rauhauser and their confederates) the threats intensified to include, for example, a promise to hang McGibney’s children from a tree while going over them with a blowtorch. Personally identifiable private information - such as McGibney and his wife's Driver’s License and Social Security numbers and home address - were posted on a blog administered by Thomas Retzlaff and his partner in crime, Neal Rauhauser. Retzlaff, who is a self-admitted member of the KKK and Aryan Brotherhood, took it a step further and posted McGibney's SSN and home address on a large racism-friendly website which included the directive: “here’s BullyVille’s home address, let’s go rape and murder his spic wife and half spic kids”. Eventually, they focused their attacks on our board members, investors (and their minor children), advertisers, celebrity spokespersons and even Warner Brothers - with which BullyVille had had a lucrative TV deal. Among the dirtier tactics, Retzlaff falsely accused one of our investors of being a pedophile who “rapes his own children” by having maliciously sent an email to that investor's child's entire school. Retzlaff, Rauhauser and their confederates made it clear via direct emails and internet published comments that the attacks would continue until and unless McGibney committed suicide. We had considered litigation to be a last resort, but were left with few options. After much discussion, we elected to file a civil suit against Retzlaff and his confederates (including Rauhauser) in Texas, alleging defamation and tortious interference with business relations. We chose Texas because it was Retzlaff's last known State of residence and was where he had served a lengthy prison sentence. Upon information and belief, we would soon discover that just a few months prior to our filing in Texas, Retzlaff had fled the State once it had been uncovered that he never bothered to comply with that aforementioned provision of his 2004 parole requiring him to register as a sex offender.

Likewise, soon after filing in Texas we discovered that Rauhauser had also been evading the pursuit of law enforcement. Despite Rauhauser having previously conducted business in Texas, we had further determined that neither individual was in Texas which ultimately led to the decision to withdraw our lawsuit there and refile it in the Federal district court in California, where McGibney is based. Meanwhile, Rauhauser had retained Texas counsel and just hours before our attorney withdrew, Rauhauser’s new lawyer, Houston-based Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte, filed a counterclaim demanding that attorney fees and sanctions be awarded. The counterclaim seemed opportunistic and bizarre for the following reasons:

It was later discovered that Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanzsen Laporte is "very close and personal friends" with court documented pedophile and rapist Thomas Retzlaff. But don't take our word for it, here are some verified emails from Thomas Retzlaff's confirmed email address [email protected].

We were thankful when the lower court, by operation of law, denied Rauhauser's counterclaim and were hopeful that the Texas litigation had been concluded so that we may turn our attention to developing the Federal case against these two fugitives and their confederates. We thought wrong. Rauhauser and Dorrell persisted by filing an appeal based on the well-intentioned, but deeply flawed Texas Citizens Participation Act. We were shocked when the Texas Second District Court of Appeals ruled in Rauhauser's favor (and apparently based a portion of their opinion on an Amicus Brief filed by none other than Rauhauser's partner in crime, Thomas C. Retzlaff – whom also holds the distinction of being an officially designated 'vexatious litigant' by the State of Texas). The case was then remanded to the trial court for determination of fees and sanctions “as justice and equity may require”.

On December 30^th, 2015, the same Judge whom had initially ruled in our favor inexplicably awarded the Defendant (deadbeat dad and fugitive from the law, Neal Rauhauser) $1,000,000 in sanctions and $300,000 in Attorney’s fees for a grand total of $1.3 million dollars. The $1,000,000 in sanctions is the largest ever awarded against a company in Texas.  The largest previous Texas sanctions amount was $250,000 against Schlumberger Ltd. who reported $96 BILLION in annual revenue. The Schlumberger sanction of $250,000 is 384,000 times smaller than their total annual revenue (they are the world’s largest oilfield services company). Conversely, BullyVille had revenues of $7,500 and the $1,000,000 sanction levied against us is more than 133 times larger than our annual revenue. How is “justice and equity” adequately served when a large multi-national $96 BILLION company is ordered to pay just $250,000 in sanctions and a small $7,500 company is ordered to pay $1,000,000? If the Shlumberger formula were applied to our case, we would owe $0.02 in sanctions. 

Additionally, the total sanctions and fees of $1,300,000 is the largest ever anti-SLAPP award in the United States. The results of this decision gives new life to the old adage that crime pays... and it certainly pays well.

We have requested a new trial and a hearing on that motion has been scheduled to be heard by the Honorable Judge Cosby on January 29, 2016. The following are our latest filings within this case. Please pay special attention to the second link “compiled exhibits”, these fugitives openly admit their scam:

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/BullyVilleTX1_1.pdf

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/Compiledexhibits_1.pdf

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/EmergencyMotionforStay_1.pdf

Furthermore, we have been ordered to issue an apology to Rauhauser for having characterized him as a “woman beater” (based on this restraining order and this sworn affidavit submitted by his ex-wife, Nancy Nogg.) We were also ordered to apologize to Neal for labeling him a “pedophile supporter” (based on the many affirming statements which he has made in defense and in support of Retzlaff, a court documented pedophile). We feel that there is nothing to apologize for and pleaded that point to the Judge in our Emergency Stay motion. The notarized affidavit by Rauhauser’s ex-wife (who bravely survived two bouts against cancer while raising two children and enduring Rauhauser's ongoing abuse and harassment) clearly affirms that Rauhauser physically abused her. She also made a statement affirming Rauhauser's 'deadbeat dad' status. Rauhauser himself admitted that he physically abused and restrained her. He also acknowledges the fact that he's ignored the $65,000 in back child-support payments, but now, thanks to his well orchestrated scam, is convinced that we'll pay it for him. The twisted irony from this sordid affair is that as a law-abiding former United States Marine (BullyVille founder) defending himself and the people who surround him, Mr. McGibney's fundamental First Amendment right to free (fact supported) speech has been railroaded by two fugitives from the law who freely admit that they engage in character assassination and harassment for personal amusement and the hopes of financial enrichment. And now their incessant false accusations and stalkerish behavior has been rewarded to the tune of $1,300,000.

And a stern warning to anyone who is opposing counsel of Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanzsen Laporte. If past history is any indicator of future events, there is a strong possibility that you and your family (especially children) will be viciously stalked and harassed by Jeffrey Dorrell’s “very close and personal friend” Thomas Retzlaff. We have confirmed numerous and fully documented cases where this has occurred. The fate of attorneys and litigants who oppose Dorrell has become so infamous that an insurance carrier involved in a recent case in Texas that had Jeffrey Dorrell as opposing counsel was unable to find new counsel to represent their client. Their previous counsel withdrew after Retzlaff brutally stalked and harassed his wife and children. Per Retzlaff's own admission, he even went to the lawyer's house and allegedly threatened his wife. This is what could happen to you if you're opposing counsel of Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte. You'll most likely have a convicted felon, who is also a court documented pedophile and rapist, attack your entire family.

Just how "close and personal friends" are Thomas Retzlaff and Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte? At the outset of our July 29, 2014 restraining order hearing against Retzlaff in the Santa Clara Superior Court in California, the special appearance attorney, which Retzlaff had retained (at the 11th hour apparently) made a very peculiar statement. Retzlaff's attorney stated that, in order to be brought up to speed on the details of the case, that she had spoken with Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte the night before. Why on earth would the Director of Corporate Litigation for one of the biggest law firms in Texas have taken such a PERSONAL interest in a restraining order trial in California against a known felon with a lengthy documented history of stalking and harassment? Furthermore, why would attorney Jeffrey Dorrell seek to derail a victim of revenge pornography, Brittany Retzlaff, from receiving a permanent restraining order against a court documented pedophile and rapist? Thankfully the Judge issued a permanent restraining order to protect Brittany Retzlaff and Mr. McGibney's family. 

We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we have received and we're doing everything legally possible to ensure that justice prevails in this case. We will also continue to help and support all of the victims of revenge porn who come to BullyVille for help on a daily basis. If there's any lesson to be gained from what has happened to Bullyville it's this. Don't ever sue someone for defamation, especially in Texas, unless you know that you can properly serve them with the lawsuit and that you won't require discovery during the legal proceedings. Bullyville and James McGibney most certainly won't be suing anyone for defamation ever again after going through this horrific experience.

For all media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Press release from Stone & Vaughan, who is the law firm currently representing us in this case:

http://stonevaughanlaw.com/trolls_use_anti-SLAPP_to_collect_money_from_their_victims 

Retzlaff also continues to confirm the "very close and personal" relationship that exists between he and Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell. The second exhibit is yet another example of Retzlaff's contemptuous attitude towards a lawfully issued restraining order protecting McGibney. Even though the judgment of $1.3 million is not yet final, Retzlaff left the following voicemail message with McGibney's HR department in an effort to start wage garnishment proceedings on behalf of his partner in crime Neal Rauhauser and his "very close and personal friend" Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell.

http://www.bullyville.com/?page=videos&id=302

UPDATE #2 - On February 4th, 2016, both parties had a hearing with the Honorable Judge Cosby in FT. Worth, Texas. After hearing arguments from both sides, the Judge stated that he would issue a new ruling by the end of next week. In the very beginning of the hearing Neal Rauhauser's Attorney, Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte, was served with a lien from the State of Nebraska for Neal's $68,000 in back child support payments which span over 14 years. This is part of the reason why Rauhauser has been on the run for over a decade, the four outstanding warrants for his arrest are the other reason. 

UPDATE #4 - Our new trial has been set for April 7th, 2016. We have served the following subpoena on Defendant Neal Rauhauser. We look forward to justice and equity finally being administered within this case.

Source #3 - Tweets made by Neal Rauhauser from his @missanonnews account. Keep in mind, according to Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell of Hanszen Laporte, this is considered free speech:

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/ORTweetsNeal_1

Source #4 - Mugshot and booking info for Thomas Retzlaff:

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/trecaterelem_1.JPG

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/TEMPtr16_1

Source #12 – Affidavit by BullyVille Founder, James McGibney refuting the outright LIES that Attorney Jeffrey Dorrell filed with the court.

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/McGibney%20Affidavit%2012-15-15_1.pdf

Source #13 – Emails sent to Brittany Retzlaff from Thomas Retzlaff:

Source #14 – Order from Texas declaring Thomas Retzlaff a vexatious litigant:

http://tinyurl.com/qy59k45

Source #15 – Restraining order filed against Neal Rauhauser by his wife and children:

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/ProtectiveOrderRauhauser_1.pdf

Source #16 – Affidavit of Nancy Nogg:

http://www.bullyville.com/uploads/files/Nanaff_1.png