Intimate photos case may not deter teens, expert says

Six Nova Scotia teenagers face sentencing Monday for distributing nude images

BRIDGEWATER, N.S.— It had all the trappings of a typical teen romance, until it became part of a high-profile case that shines a light on the consequences of mixing digital images and sexuality.

The 14-year-old girl had known the boy since they were young. He would compliment her looks and tell her that he liked her.

The boy would talk about how they could trust each other, according to court documents, then asked her for photos, including full nudes.

“He asked her repeatedly and ex- plained that it was ‘no big deal,’ ” the documents said.

The boy is one of six male teenagers in Bridgewater, N.S., who have admitted to distributing intimate images of at least 20 girls between the ages of 13 and 17 without their consent. They will be sentenced in Bridgewater provincial court Monday.

When the six were charged in July 2016, four of the accused were 15 years old and the other two were 18. However, all were under 18 when the offences were committed, which means their identities are protected from publication under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The victims’ identities are also protected.

The case is one of Canada’s largest involving a relatively untested law designed to combat the non-consen- sual sharing of intimate images.

“It’s not clear that the law will be deterrent one way or the other, especially in the world of teenage hormones and sexuality run amok,” said Wayne MacKay, a law professor at Dalhousie University.

Documents submitted in court said two Dropbox accounts were created for the purpose of sharing intimate images of girls in various states of undress, including fully nude.

An agreed statement of facts said everyone who uploaded photos either knew outright or were “wilfully blind” to the fact that the subjects didn’t consent to their distribution.

The intimate images bill, which became law in 2015, was introduced after the death of Rehtaeh Parsons.

The 17-year-old died by suicide in 2013 after a photo — of what her family says was a sexual assault — was circulated among students at her school in Cole Harbour, N.S.

Lara Karaian, a criminology professor at Carleton University, said that teens’ attitudes have shifted in an age when the circulation of intimate images has become a cultural norm.

“How much are we willing to use the law against so many young people who are doing this?” she said.

McKay said the six accused could face court-ordered restrictions at the sentencing hearing, including a prohibition on access to the internet.

“For young people in the modern world, limiting their social media is what they’ll take note of,” he said. “For some, it may even be a bigger deterrent than time in custody.”