Someone is trying to ruin my life because I made porn art of teenagers

I am living in California, but it's unlikely that my harasser is in the same state.

I'm a public figure (so I can't erase my online activity, and anyone can find me easily with just a name) but I used to make rule 34 art to support myself through college. I drew porn of many characters, some of whom happened to be technically underage, under a nickname. Somehow, someone found my real name and has been harassing me, all the companies I worked for and my coworkers/bosses; they're sending everyone links to my old porn art and calling me a pedophile, demanding that I am fired. They also created a website called [my real name]isapedophile.com, trying to create outrage to ruin my reputation. I do not know who the harasser is (they use an anonymous mail address and accounts) and I'm at a loss as to what I can do.

For reference, the characters that justify this person's "pedophile" accusation are all fictional, such as Naruto, Sora or Bakugo, who are all technically 15-16. This is not "diddling little kids" territory, these characters could look exactly the same and creators could say they're all 18 without issues. I am not attracted to kids, nor did I ever give any indication that I am, so it is clear the harasser just wants to hurt me by claiming "think of the children!"

As I said, I am a public figure, my reputation is a vital part of my career. This is deeply hurting professional opportunities and it likely cost me a very, very good job offer already. Additionally, this person can and does stalk me, coming out of the woodwork to hurt my professional prospects when I change locations/employers.

What I want to know:

1) Is my artwork illegal? Could I get in legal trouble if I admit to drawing porn of underage fictional characters to the police or a judge?

2) Is there anything the justice system can do to find the harasser's identity? I cannot get an IP address from the host of his website, for instance, but could an investigation access such information?

3) Is it possible for me to sue this person for libel (or something else)? If I cannot find their identity, do they become un-suable? If I can sue them, would I be likely to win and what can I expect in the way of reparations/punishment for them?

4) If I can and choose to sue this person, would it become public? Would background checks/people googling my name have a chance to find records of it? I want to make this whole thing disappear, if it ends up attracting even more attention to it that would defeat the purpose.

Thanks in advance.

Written By: Throw-away-chan
Source: https://ift.tt/2uwxAU6