Former ‘O.C.’ actress Mischa Barton has lawyered up in response to recent rumours that a sex tape featuring her is doing the rounds and being offered for sale to various websites, with a legal representative issuing a stern warning to those responsible.

Various outlets have reported over the last couple of days about the existence of a tape, allegedly featuring Barton in various sexual acts with an unnamed man, with an asking price of $500,000. Barton herself is expected to address the situation in a news conference this week, but her new lawyer also issued a statement on her behalf.

Mischa BartonMischa Barton is taking legal action in response to new 'sex tape' reports

“I am very proud to represent actress Mischa Barton, who is courageously standing up for her rights,” began the statement by attorney Lisa Bloom on Tuesday morning (March 14th).

“It has been reported that naked or sexually explicit images of Ms. Barton are being ‘shopped around.’ Ms. Barton does not consent to any disclosure of any such images. She believes that she was recorded without her consent by someone she was seeing at the time. There’s a name for this disgusting conduct: revenge pornography,” she continued. “Revenge pornography is a form of sexual assault, and it is also a crime and a civil wrong in California. And we will not stand for it.”

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“I have a message for anyone who attempts to traffic in these photos or videos of Ms. Barton: we will find you, and we will come after you. We will fully prosecute you under every available criminal and civil law. You proceed at your peril.”

In a separate statement to People magazine, Bloom added that the 31 year old star had potential recourse to pursue legal action in both a civil and a criminal case, saying “this has been very upsetting to Mischa.”

“I’ve been doing women’s right cases for 30 years,” the lawyer said, “and what I see over and over again is women who are very scared, but when they stand up on their own two feet and they say, ‘No, I’m not going to stand for this, I’m going to fight back,’ it’s very empowering. I think this is a very healthy step that Mischa step is taking.”

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