His revenge porn costs him 10 000 dollars

Photo: Martin Knight

Benoît Philie

Thursday, 25 January 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Thursday, 25 January 2018 01:00

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A man from the region of Sherbrooke has just been sentenced to pay $ 10,000 to his ex-wife for having sent pictures of her naked to her new spouse without his or her consent.

“The defendant has prejudiced the rights of [the victim], to respect for his private life and the safeguard of his dignity, his honour and his reputation,” said the judge of the superior Court Claude Villeneuve, in a recent judgment.

The man and the woman, we can’t reveal identity due to a court order, were married in 2009 and divorced a year after.

The father has had custody of their two children, and the relationship between the two parties became gradually inflamed. Meanwhile, the woman has rebuilt her life with another man.

By text message

For a reason that remains unclear, the ex-husband had access in 2012 to more erotic images of the victim, one can read in the judgment.

Three years later, seeing that his former wife led the charge relating to the custody of the children, it was decided to send three graphic photos to her new boyfriend via text message, in the hope of “break up their marriages,” wrote the judge Villeneuve.

Man was made to believe that the images had been shared on the pornographic website Youporn.

The victim and his new spouse have told the court that they had spent sleepless nights trying to find images on the web.

Humiliatede

“The [woman] felt humiliated and with good reason. […] She lived with the fear of discovering that the photos had been posted on the internet or at several other people around her, ” added the magistrate.

The accused has, for its part, defended itself in court by stating that he had not made that pass to the new spouse of the photos that his former wife had sent.

The judge Villeneuve was nonetheless sentenced the ex-husband to pay $ 10,000 in moral and punitive damages. The victim claimed for its share of 20 000 $. The man has also been accused in the last year, and has received an absolute discharge after pleading guilty.

More frequent

The case of “revenge porn” are increasingly common before the courts in quebec, and affect victims of all age groups, observe experts.

“With technology, it begins to be more and more popular. The people are not aware that it is a criminal act and do it on impulse, without thinking about the consequences, ” says the lawyer, criminal lawyer Mia Manocchio.

Several studies have shown that the transmission of pictures of a sexual nature in teenagers is increasingly common. But the phenomenon is not limited to young people.

All ages

“I thought that it would affect primarily teenagers who send pictures between friends, but you start to see the case with older couples, who do it for revenge,” says Me Mannochio.

The lawyer specializing in privacy Eloise Gratton is also of the opinion that the case will be more frequent.

“The good news is that Quebec is better equipped than other canadian provinces for this type of offense there because of the civil Code,” she said.

Two ways to continue

Criminal

The canadian criminal Code was amended in 2014 to allow prosecution of anyone who publishes a picture intimate with a person without his consent. The maximum penalty is five years in prison. Almost 180 charges were laid in Quebec for offences of the kind between 2015 and April 10, 2017, according to the Director of criminal and penal prosecutions.

Civil

In Quebec, an individual can prosecute a person who has circulated the images without its consent and require repair under the civil Code.

Other cases

105 $ 500 in Ontario

The former spouse of the victim has been ordered to pay an amount of 105 $ 500 in damages for airing an intimate video of her on a pornographic website.

32 000 $ Quebec

A man has been ordered to pay $ 32,000 in after you have registered an intimate situation without the consent of the victim, and this, even if it had never aired the video.

39 000 $ Quebec

A man had to pay 39 000 $ to a woman to be transmitted to an indefinite number of persons in the photographs and videos of her in full engage in sexual activity without her consent.