Eighteen-year-old American gymnast McKayla Maroney has reportedly taken legal action against a porn website after alleged nude photos of her were posted online.

The sportswoman is believed to have been one of many celebrity victims whose intimate pictures have been stolen by a hacker, who is believed to have cracked Apple's iCloud electronic storage system.

While Maroney herself has described the photos as fake, the teenager has reportedly launched a legal case against a porn site who have reposted the images.

According to TMZ, a letter sent by Maroney's attorneys to Porn.com have demanded that the photos be taken down because the gymnast was underage when they were taken.

Reports have claimed that letters have been sent to a number of adult websites claiming that Maroney owns copyright on the images.

A Porn.com representative told the US website that they removed the photos immediately once they were contacted by her legal team.