BURSTThe following contains sexual content and may not be suitable for all readers.
A man has been sentenced to six months in jail by a judge in Nanaimo for publishing explicit photos and video of a person he briefly dated, without her permission.
The man, named only by initials in court documents, previously pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly publishing and distributing intimate images of a woman he dated for a few months in 2021, with offences taking place from June to July 2023. The material included nude images and video of the woman masturbating. Her identity is protected by a publication ban.
He was sentenced by Judge Christina Proteau in B.C. provincial court in Nanaimo on Aug. 11 with Crown counsel seeking a nine-month jail sentence and two years’ probation and defence a 12-18 month conditional sentence, to be served in the community, followed by two years’ probation.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the woman contacted Nanaimo RCMP on June 20, 2023, stating the man had threatened to post intimate videos and pictures of her online. He had sent a link to a video of her masturbating, which had been “previously entrusted” to him when they dated. The victim’s face could not be seen, but the man included her picture in the video. In separate audio sent, the man asked if she wanted her family, friends and acquaintances to see and hear her in her “most personal moments.”
Further he stated “Is it really worth it to come after me for doing [expletive] nothing to you? Is that worth it? Cause that’s what’s gonna [expletive] happen and worse.”
The victim contacted police a week later to inform them the man had posted the content. Three videos of the two engaged in intercourse were posted to a website, accessible via payment, with her face visible in one video. “Okay, I guess instead of trying to talk to you I’ll just put my energy into video distribution,” he messaged her.
In July 2023, the victim and her brother saw a screenshot from the page of Facebook user named “Don Johnson” with nude images of the victim.
“The screenshot was an image created by [the man] using photo editing software making it appear to be a Facebook profile that was posting intimate images of the victim,” the court documents stated. “The intimate images were not actually published on the Facebook platform.”
The victim’s brother engaged in an online conversation with the man, which was screenshot and included dialogue where the man said “All you’re doing is making sure [the victim’s name] gets [expletive] over No I’m going to post everything now.”
The victim said the incident was detrimental to her frame of mind, impacting “her sense of privacy, safety, dignity, and autonomy over her body.” She suffers from constant anxiety, has experienced panic attacks and has fears about “what may have been posted online about her.”
The fact the videos were posted to the website was “more aggravating than if the videos had been sent to one individual or other individuals, for example – [the website] is not an obscure website, but easily accessible, and well-known to members of the public,” Proteau found. Further the victim’s face was not obscured and “the sexual contact captured is sexual intercourse and highly invasive to the victim’s dignity and privacy.”
The videos were not posted impulsively as “there was thought and deliberation and threats to the victim to post if she did not engage with [him] and this took place over a period of three weeks, not a one-off event.”
The judge also noted that the man’s guilty plea was a mitigating factor, as it halted a trial, which would’ve further traumatized the victim.
The man is of Indigenous decent and mentioned in pre-sentence report that he had been abused as a child, both physically and sexually.
Following incarceration, the man will be on probation for 18 months and during that time, is prohibited from making any contact with the victim or being within 50 metres of her. He was also ordered to give a DNA sample.
karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com