A St. Ann townhouse owned by a U.S.-based software engineer has been sold for $36 million to satisfy a multimillion-dollar judgment arising from a lawsuit over the disclosure of intimate images of Jamaican attorney Kimberley Facey, according to a report by The Sunday Gleaner.
The sale marks the latest development in a closely watched case that tested the rarely used common-law action of breach of confidence in the context of intimate images shared online.
Rodrick Brown, a New York City resident, was ordered by the Supreme Court in February 2024 to pay Facey $11 million in damages, plus interest of 3% annually dating back to October 2020. The court also awarded $480,000 for future medical care, The Gleaner reported, citing court documents.
Brown’s townhouse in Runaway Bay was subsequently sold for $36 million and transferred to its new owners on July 16, according to Land Titles Division records cited by the newspaper. Brown had purchased the property in 2018 for $14.5 million with a $13.8 million mortgage.
D’Angelo Foster, Brown’s current attorney, told The Gleaner that proceeds remaining after the mortgage and other obligations were paid were sufficient to satisfy the judgment.
“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,” Foster told the newspaper.
The payment also appears poised to end Brown’s challenge to the underlying ruling. Foster said the appeal “will have to be withdrawn because the judgment debt is now settled.”
But the financial dispute between the parties may not be over.
Facey’s attorneys are seeking nearly $20 million in legal costs associated with pursuing the case and have filed court documents concerning another property owned by Brown, according to The Gleaner.
Foster cautioned that any enforcement action against the second property would be premature because the amount Brown may ultimately owe in costs has not yet been determined.
“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 told the newspaper.
The lawsuit stemmed from photographs and videos depicting Facey and Brown during a sexual encounter in a St. Andrew apartment in July 2020 that subsequently appeared on social media. Facey said in her lawsuit that learning the material was circulating publicly caused her embarrassment and mental and emotional anguish.
In addition to damages, the Supreme Court ordered Brown to destroy any videos or images of Facey remaining in his possession or control. A final injunction also prohibits Brown or anyone acting on his behalf from releasing, posting or uploading the material.
The case was brought under breach of confidence, a longstanding but infrequently invoked common-law cause of action. Brown’s then-attorney, Xavier Leveridge, previously emphasized that the judgment was entered on procedural grounds rather than after a determination of the substantive merits of Facey’s allegations.
Facey told The Sunday Gleaner in 2024 that she deliberately pursued the lawsuit under her own name rather than anonymously, saying she hoped the case would encourage others confronted with similar circumstances to defend themselves publicly.
“Kim Facey was attacked and Kim Facey answered,” she said. “The case was personal to me.”
