"Revenge porn" is a term used with increasing frequency in the media. For those unfamiliar with it, the phrase refers to intimate videos or photos taken during a relationship and then disseminated publicly, and without permission, after the relationship ends.
News articles have been written in recent days about social media websites battling to block revenge porn and about locales where law enforcement is getting involved. One of those places is very familiar: Florida.
A 37-year-old South Florida man was recently arrested on a wide variety of charges related to alleged attempts to post online images of his former girlfriend. Authorities say the woman was underage when the explicit photos and videos were taken.
He's charged with transmitting child pornography, possession of sexual performance by a child, promotion of sexual performance by a child, as well as video voyeurism dissemination and other allegations.
The State Attorney who announced his arrest said, "We are here today with a new type of criminalization aimed primarily at women...revenge porn."
According to a news report, officials claim the man met his former lover in Puerto Rico when she was 15 years old. They moved to Florida together in 2009 and then ended their relationship in 2012. After the woman was hired by a government agency, the man allegedly tried to post images of her nude to a government website.
As always when we share news reports, we caution readers to understand that these are charges made by police and prosecutors. We have no way of knowing what type of permissions the man might have had regarding the images and no way of verifying allegations about her age. We do know, however, that in some similar situations, defendants must endure media attention at the time of arrest, only to be exonerated later with little or no media fanfare.
The first step in the process is to speak with an experienced criminal defense attorneywho knows the law and who understands the high stakes involved for you.
