Child-support squabble plays out over Internet
Man sues his child's mother over Web site using his name.
Friday, December 9, 2005
By GREG HARDESTY
The Orange County Register
DISPUTE: Jennifer Young of Costa Mesa created a Web site that features a photo of her ex-lover.
ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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COSTA MESA – They were in love and living the good life.
Jennifer Young and Steve Rebeil made impromptu trips to Hawaii in his private jet, cruised the Bahamas on a yacht with masseuses and cooks, and sipped champagne while shopping in Aspen.
That was eight years ago.
Today, Young and Rebeil are embroiled in a bitter legal battle as their personal drama plays out on the Internet.
Rebeil, the father of Young's 4-year-old son, has sued the Costa Mesa woman to try to force her to take down a Web site she created that uses his name as its domain name.
His lawsuit appears to be an unusual twist on the 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which grew out of abusive registration of domain names to force trademark owners to pay for Web site addresses.
The law was designed to protect the commercial interests of corporations. Rebeil, in his lawsuit, says he is trying to protect his name and assets as he appeals a child-support judgment.
The once-rampant practice of "cybersquatting" rested on the bad-faith intent to profit from registering a domain name. Is Young, in this case, trying to illegally profit from her former boyfriend's name?
That question will be decided by a federal judge in Santa Ana, who is expected to rule soon on whether Rebeil's lawsuit has merit.
"The lawsuit appears to be designed to intimidate Young and appears to be without legal basis," said Brian Daucher, Young's attorney.
Daucher, with Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, said he conducted a national search and could not find another cybersquatting lawsuit involving a child-custody battle.
Rebeil's attorney, Diana Torres of O'Melveny & Myers, said hundreds of cybersquatting lawsuits have been filed against people seeking to profit from a person's name.
"I don't see this as a landmark case by any stretch of the imagination," Torres said. She said Rebeil would not comment.
'EMBARRASSING'
Young's Web site, which went up last December, includes a picture of Rebeil holding their newborn son and identifies the Laguna Beach developer as being in violation of a court order for child support.
The site asks for help in identifying Rebeil's business interests and urges people to contact the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Rebeil filed his civil suit in September, while he was serving five months in federal prison for filing a false tax return.
In papers filed in federal court in Santa Ana, Rebeil, 44, argues that Young, 32, is trying to "harass and extort" money from him and trying to profit from his name without his permission.
Young says she took her battle to the Internet out of frustration that the child-support judgment was not being enforced.
She said she just wants Rebeil to pay the $8,066 in monthly child support a judge ordered in September 2004 - double the previous amount. The increase came at a hearing Rebeil requested to try to lower the payment.
He continues to pay Young $4,300 per month - $300 of that in arrearages, according to his lawsuit. He owes back child support, with interest, of more than $100,000.
"I'm beyond angry," Young said in an interview in her two-bedroom duplex. "It's just a very embarrassing, sad and unfortunate situation for everyone."
A SHOCK
Young was a 24-year-old art seller when Rebeil walked into a Laguna Beach gallery in 1997.
He was flashy, Young said - wearing a shiny Versace belt and racing Ferraris for fun.
Soon, they started dating.
At the time, Rebeil was a well-known Las Vegas-area homebuilder with a history of being sued. That same year, in denying an application to build a casino, the Nevada State Gaming Control Board said Rebeil and a partner "lack good character, honesty and integrity."
Rebeil launched, in 1999, an Orange County business that soon became a symbol of Internet investor euphoria run amok.
His 2TheMart.com, modeled after eBay, collapsed in 2000 in bankruptcy, amid allegations of fraud. A class-action shareholder lawsuit was settled in December 2002 with plaintiffs receiving a combined $2.7 million.
Young soon felt cheated herself.
Pregnant with Rebeil's child, she said in court papers that she was shocked to discover he was married with at least three other children, and was planning to move his family into their planned dream home in the gated Irvine Cove community of Laguna Beach.
Young sued, alleging that Rebeil broke a promise to marry her and take care of her and their child forever.
In December 2002, the two settled, with Rebeil agreeing to pay $4,000 monthly in child support.
In September 2004, a judge increased the amount to $8,066, retroactive to Dec. 1, 2003.
going to the 'net
Young said she isn't trying to extort money from Rebeil.
His current business interests include a luxury condominium high-rise in San Diego and the new House of Blues in that city's Gaslamp District.
"I understand it is much more money than most women or families usually get, but the law is the law - I didn't set (the amount)," Young said.
She said she is $35,000 in debt, with large medical bills stemming from stress, plus hefty legal fees.
Young talked to a lawyer before launching www.steverebeil.com, which disguises her former lover's eyes.
Her battle has spilled into chat rooms devoted to so-called deadbeat dads.
In one recent exchange, Rebeil's wife, Jilly, 43, accuses Young of "stalking" her family; she also, echoing her husband's lawsuit, accuses Young of distributing printouts of the Web site at Rebeil's daughter's high school in Newport Beach. Young denies any stalking or harassment.
She said every Christmas, a box of unwrapped gifts comes for Young's son.
She assumes they're from Rebeil.
TO COURT
Rebeil has been involved in a high-profile Internet-related lawsuit before, and also child-support litigation.
In 2001, his bankrupt 2TheMart.com tried to subpoena a message-board operator to get the names of 23 people who posted critical messages on an investor Web site.
In a major ruling protecting Internet privacy, a federal judge in Seattle ruled against 2TheMart.com.
In 1988, a Nevada judge ordered Rebeil to pay $300 in monthly child support plus arrears of $1,965 to Grace Castle, the mother of his eldest child, court documents show.
Castle, 39, sued Rebeil to establish paternity, court document show.
Young, meanwhile, said she has shared her story with others who are trying to collect child-support payments.
She said she sees herself as an advocate.
"I'm not taking this Web site down until I get every penny that man owes me," she said.
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