By Hunter Hines
Christian Action League
August 7, 2015
RALEIGH – Holly Jacobs is using a name these days that isn’t the one she was given at birth. And, there’s a good reason.
A few years ago, the Miami, Florida resident was working on her doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Florida International University and had moved on after a breakup with her longtime boyfriend.
Holly had a new relationship now and posted a picture of herself with her new boyfriend on Facebook. Soon after, she received an email that said, “Its 8:15 where you are. You have until 8:37 to reply. Then I start the distribution.”
Holly realized the person sending the email was her old boyfriend, the man she had exchanged intimate photos with during their three year relationship. But Holly never imagined that he would use them to destroy her life.
Only three days after the email, intimate pictures of Holly were posted on more than 200 websites. The images had been sent to her boss and a coworker, which precipitated the need to explain the situation to not only her employer, but also her family, her friends, and colleagues. Furthermore, there was the need to request, even plead with porn sites and search engines to remove her material. Holly would work on her dissertation by day and send takedown notices at night. After about a month of this, it seemed the material was gone. But within two weeks, her material was up on 300 other web sites.
It seemed the best way to diminish the damage was for her to change her name, which she did. It was the surest way to escape many of the negative consequences on her career, her psychological health, and her current relationship.
Holly says the worst part about her experience was her discovery via lawyers and law enforcement that what her ex-boyfriend was doing to her was not against the law.
Holly’s story is told on the web site, endrevengeporn.org. According to End Revenge Porn, a campaign organized by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a group that seeks to provide support and advocacy for victims of nonconsensual porn, “revenge porn” is the nonconsensual disclosure of explicit images for no legitimate purpose that causes immediate, devastating, and in many cases irreversible harm.
“A vengeful ex-partner, opportunistic hacker, or rapist can upload an explicit image of a victim to a web site where thousands of people can view it and hundreds of other web sites can share it. In a matter of days, that image can dominate the first several pages of search engine results for the victim’s name, as well as being emailed or otherwise exhibited to the victim’s family, employers, co-workers, and peers. Victims are frequently threatened with sexual assault, stalked, harassed, fired from jobs, and forced to change schools. Some victims have committed suicide,” says the web site.
HB 792: Privacy/Protection From Revenge Postings passed the Senate on Wednesday. Its purpose is to create a new criminal offense in North Carolina for the disclosure of private images within the context of a personal relationship. Any person that discloses an image of an identifiable person whose intimate parts are exposed or who is engaged in sexual conduct, when the person disclosing such images should have known the individual did not consent to such disclosure or should have known that the person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, shall be guilty of a class H felony. The legislation requires the intent to harm in some way, such as the intent to coerce, harass, intimidate, demean, humiliate, or cause financial ruin.
HB 792 also creates a civil cause of action, meaning the person who is victimized may seek damages. Damages may be computed up to $1000 for each day of the violation or up to $10,000, whichever is higher. Punitive damages may be awarded, as well as attorney’s fees and other reasonable litigation costs. The civil action must be brought no later than four years after the disclosure.
The House passed the legislation unanimously in April, but the Senate added a few related amendments.
One amendment offered by Sen. Jerry Tillman (R-Randolph) calls for a study by the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public and Safety to research cases where people superimpose another person’s face on another individual’s body in sexual situations and depicting private body parts. The amendment passed.
Another amendment that succeeded dealt with a case in a north Charlotte neighborhood where a man often purposely stood in the door of his home in the nude while talking on his cell phone. The amendment offered by Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Duplin) makes it illegal to expose oneself in a private place, with the intent to be seen by others in a public place.
But the amendment that was most debated reduces a first time offense to a misdemeanor for juveniles. Sen. Gladys Robinson, (D-Guilford), sponsor of the amendment argued she was concerned kids under 18 needed a chance to get it right and go forward without a felony record hanging over them. But others like Sen. Kathy Harrington, (R-Gaston) said the victims of such crimes don’t get another chance and are victimized 24/7 for the rest of their lives. Robinson’s amendment passed by a vote of 28-15 and the bill was approved unanimously on its final reading in the Senate.
Dr. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League applauded the measure, saying, “It’s unfortunate such legislation is needed today. It’s easy to say, ‘Well, folks, taking and sharing naughty photographs are just getting what they deserve. They ought not to allow themselves to get in such compromising circumstances’, he said.
“In more cases than not, although not necessarily in all situations, I think there may be some truth to that accusation. But when I consider the Virgin Mary, even though she was not guilty of immorality, it was perceived she was and Joseph, the Bible says, sought to put her away quietly to protect her. He sought as best he could to shield her. The Bible also says ‘love covers a multitude of sins’. Law should temper judgment with mercy and this measure does that,” Dr. Creech added.
HB 792 will return to the House for concurrence. If the House approves of the Senate’s amendments, the legislation will become law December 1, 2015.