Man ordered to pay $30.5K to remove revenge porn from internet

A Prince Albert man who posted nude photos on the internet of his ex-girlfriend has been ordered to pay $30,500 to cover the cost of removing the digital images.

The 25-year-old man pleaded guilty in Prince Albert provincial court this week to publishing intimate images without consent. In addition, Judge Leslie Matsalla sentenced him to two years probation.

According to Crown prosecutor Shawn Blackman, the case is one of the first in Saskatchewan under the sharing intimate images law.

“The effect on the complainant is profound,” Matsalla said, adding that “the harm will be ongoing and may continue for a long period of time.”

The judge said he was convinced the photos were posted out of “revenge.” The man and the victim were both 18 years old when he took 10 intimate photos of her. They broke up months later, at which time he posted the images. The victim was alerted years later, when men began soliciting her for sex through online messaging. She found out she had been identified, by name and location, on various sites hosting the images.

The woman has taken steps to have the pictures removed but the process is difficult and expensive, Blackman said.

The woman wants to hire a firm that specializes in the scrubbing of “revenge porn,” and got a $30,500 quote for its services.

The Crown and defence agreed on restitution but not probation terms. Blackman sought to prohibit the man from using a computer, smartphone or device with internet capability. Defence lawyer Mary McAuley said that would make it almost impossible for him to find employment.

“If he can’t pay this, how do we get those images down?” McAuley said.

McAuley admitted the man posted the photos out of vindictiveness and anger after a “bad break up,” but said the man was intoxicated when he committed the crime.

The lawyers argued about whether the man was remorseful and realizes the significance of his actions. In a victim-impact statement, the woman spoke of the effect the images have had on her relationship with her parents, her professional prospects and her romantic life.

According to a presentencing report read by Blackman, the man indicated “the charges were an overreaction on the part of the victim and the justice system.” The man, Blackman continued, “feels the offences are stupid because they happened in the past.”

McAuley acknowledged the publication “was retaliatory” and “vindictive,” but said the man was so intoxicated, and the events were long ago, that he barely remembered posting the images when he was charged.

“He is struggling with this. … He has been going through a lot of depression,” McAuley said.

The Crown said the man was rated in the “high” range to reoffend sexually. McAuley said he isn’t a long-term sexual offender, and that “we have one isolated, opportunistic crime that has major ramifications for the complainant.”

The judge restricted the man’s internet, computer and smartphone use while on probation, but allowed for a probation officer to relax the conditions for employment or educational purposes. The man was also ordered to stay away from the victim, and to not possess drugs, alcohol or firearms.

Walking outside the courthouse, the man said he took issue with the Crown’s argument that he never showed remorse.

“She didn’t deserve that,” he said. “I feel awful.”