Angie Varona Struggles to Live a Normal Life Four Years Later

Angie Varona Struggles to Live a Normal Life Four Years Later

Varona has been criticized for putting these provocative photos of herself online in the first place, especially given that in most of the photos she is wearing little clothing. She says she was just dressing like any other normal teenager.

"When you are at the beach and you are wearing a bikini I don't know how you are supposed to not expose yourself," Varona said. "When I go out I dress like every other girl. I dress with clothes that show, I guess, off my body in a way, but I don't do it on purpose ... Because I am larger on top it just looks more provocative, but it shouldn't stop me from wearing it."

Some even claim she "planned" to have her photos leaked because she wanted attention, which Varona denied.

"They think I did this on purpose to get the fame and the popularity," Varona said. "But in fact, the truth is I want to be either a lawyer or a vet. I don't want to do anything having to be famous… [people] don't realize that it really does hurt the person, and people do make mistakes."

Varona said she regrets posting her photos online and worries that this now seedy reputation will follow her for the rest of her life.

"I took the pictures, I mean, in a way I hold myself responsible, which kind of hurts me too because it could have all been prevented if I just listened to my parents," she said. "I would have never even had a cell phone. My parents didn't even want me to have Facebook. They didn't want me to have a MySpace."

As her family still fights to have the widely-traded photos removed, Varona said she struggles to lead a normal life. The teenager, who wants to socialize on Facebook, text or email her friends and apply to college, said she feels trapped.

"I can never have a Facebook and have it private where nobody can see it because they're always going to find a way to hack it and they're always going to find me," she said. "I had problems with going out to malls, having people stare at me... It was pretty embarrassing. I never wanted to show my face anywhere."

For the now tech-obsessed generation, Varona said she wants people to learn from her story and not make the mistakes she did.

"I don't want this to ever happen to anyone else," she said. "Even after everything that's happened to me, I would never wish it on anyone else."