Intermittent jail sentence for revenge nudes

A young man was sentenced Thursday to three months intermittently in jail and one year probation for publishing nude photos of his ex-girlfriend online after she broke up with him and started dating his older brother.

The accused, who cannot be named due to the potential of identifying the victim, previously pled guilty to publishing indecent images at Medicine Hat Provincial Court.

Remaining charges of possessing and distributing child pornography — the victim was 17 years old — were withdrawn by the Crown in exchange for his plea.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the nude images were viewed by 7,000 people from across the globe.

The accused and complainant had been together for three years, after which the victim ended the relationship.

Prior to breaking up, she had purchased an iPhone for the accused, with which he took naked pictures of her.

After she started dating his brother, the accused posted the nude photos on a revenge porn website, publishing her name and lewd comments about her.

The next day, the perpetrator asked the website to remove the photos. They said they would only do so for $3,000.

By May 24, 2017, the photos were deleted at the request of police.

In that timespan, the complainant received unsolicited Facebook messages from strangers who had seen the photos.

On June 13, police arrested the accused.

Judge P.G. Pharo cited as aggravating factors the vengefulness that led the accused to publish the photos, that they were posted publicly, that the accused was in a position of trust with the victim and the continuing consequences for the complainant.

“This matter has caused the biggest struggle of her life,” Pharo said, citing the victim impact statement.

The complainant suffers from “non-stop stress and depression,” feeling “constant humiliation when she goes anywhere.”

As mitigating factors, Pharo cited the perpetrator’s young age — 25 — his expression of remorse and apology to the victim, as well as a lack of a prior criminal record.

A pre-sentencing report said the accused doesn’t need continued supervision.

The Crown asked for 45 months in prison with one year probation, while defence lawyer Robert Robbenhaar requested somewhere in the range of 30 to 60 days in jail.

The perpetrator will serve his three-month sentence on weekends, spending Saturday from 9 a.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m. in jail.