Revenge Porn Victim Chooses to Fight Back Against Cyber Abuse

At first, it seemed innocent enough and terribly romantic.  A 22 year-old woman named Holly Jacobs sent nude photographs of herself to a long-distance boyfriend whom she loved and trusted.  She couldn’t possibly have imagined what would happen less than a year after the coupled ended their three-year relationship. In August 2009, Jacobs did a Google search of her name and found those same naked photos on a so-called “revenge porn” website.

Then, things got even worse.

Jacobs went to the Miami police and to her great dismay they told her they couldn’t do anything to help her.  Since she was over 18 and consented to the photos, technically those photos are his property and he “can do whatever he wants with them.”

Today, Jacobs is still fighting back. She’s created the website “End Revenge Porn” and has formed the group Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), serving as the group’s CEO and executive director.  In today’s world of sexting and other forms of electronic promiscuity, she wants to help others going what she went through and send a clear warning to help curb the problem.

As disgusting and unfortunate as Jacobs’ story is, unfortunately, it’s not at all surprising given the nature of several things I’ve seen recently, particularly with regard to divorce cases. People can do some incredibly nasty things to each other when a romantic relationship comes to a bitter end.  With today’s powerful technology, the ability to “get even” or otherwise hurt someone in a deeply personal way is all that much easier to accomplish.

As was noted in the story in this particular case, the laws just aren’t keeping up with today’s technology. Unfortunately, many people are posing for pictures they thought were going to remain private only to find out to their shock and disbelief that those same pictures have been transmitted instantly around the world.

Of course, all of this begs for common sense and the obvious question: why are you posing for these kinds of pictures in the first place?  In today’s world, there’s simply no way one can control how pictures will eventually be used.  Long gone are the days where a Polaroid camera produced a hard copy image which you’d put into a scrapbook.  Today’s digital photos can be instantly copied and electronically transmitted virtually anywhere.

The first issue that must be dealt with in this type of case is whether the photo was taken with the person’s consent.  Anyone taking pictures and then disseminating without a person’s consent, especially those involving nudity, has likely committed a crime. Lawmakers in a number of states, including Wisconsin, are working to modify their laws to make it easier to prosecute those who do this sort of thing.

While I personally haven’t dealt with cases exactly like this, I have seen divorce cases, contract claims and other civil claims where the improper use of photographs has led to damage claims. Again, until laws are updated to specifically tailored to prevent what happened to the woman in this particular case, we’re going to have to wrestle with the gray area of whether the photo was taken voluntarily or not.

It will be interesting to see how the attempt to clarify Wisconsin’s laws in this regard actually unfolds.  I have not seen a draft of what’s being proposed but when you get into the legal issues there’s been some discussion from constitutional scholars who say it has to be narrowly tailored because it’s like prior restraint and the restriction of freedom of speech. The issue becomes how do they tailor this so it will pass constitutional muster? It will be an ongoing issue if this new legislation is passed. 

In the meantime, my advice in a case like this pretty much mirrors what I would say for any case involving the social media and having a healthy respect for modern technology. Don’t put photos or other information out there in cyberspace in any way, shape or form that which you don’t want the whole world to see. It’s just a good rule of thumb.  If you have any doubts, just don’t do it. I understand it’s free speech but remember that, as soon as you hit that “send” button, it’s out of your control forever and people can do with it what they want.

About Attorney Mark Powers
Attorney Mark Powers is a partner at the criminal defense law firm of Huppertz & Powers, S.C. in Waukesha. Previously, Powers served as an Assistant District Attorney with the Waukesha County District Attorney's office and is currently serving as a municipal judge in North Prairie. He focuses in the area of criminal defense, and has handled many cases involving operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, domestic disputes, and drug offenses.

Powers attended Valparaiso University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate. Prior to law school, Mark attended the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse where he received his bachelor of science in Political Science.

For more information, please call 262.549.5979 or visit www.waukeshacriminalattorneys.com.