A man from Yellowknife has received a 12-month jail term for sharing explicit videos of his ex-partner on social media without her consent. The 36-year-old individual was found guilty in a trial for distributing intimate images without the woman’s permission.
In a written ruling on July 29, N.W.T. Territorial Court judge Stephanie Whitecloud-Brass decided against a community-based sentence due to the serious breach of trust, high moral culpability, and retaliatory nature of the offense. Apart from the jail time, the man will also undergo 18 months of probation, complete 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling sessions.
The court documents revealed that the man and the victim initially met on a dating app in May 2023. Their relationship developed into both a professional and romantic partnership. Despite the victim consenting to recording sexual activities, she made it clear that no footage revealing her face or identifiable tattoos should be made public.
Nevertheless, in July 2024, two days after the end of their relationship, the man uploaded two explicit videos on the X platform, disregarding the agreed-upon boundaries. The court determined that his actions were retaliatory, aimed at causing harm and embarrassment to his former partner post-breakup. The videos remained online for about 46 days before the victim discovered them, with one video showing her face and the other displaying a distinct tattoo on her body.
When confronted, the man deleted one video but hesitated to remove the second until the victim directly intervened. The court classified the act, commonly known as “revenge porn,” as a form of intimate partner violence, privacy infringement, and sexual misconduct.
Judge Whitecloud-Brass emphasized in her sentencing that posting the videos on a public account with 285 followers meant the potential reach was vast, making it impossible to determine if others downloaded or shared the content. Despite it being a first offense, the defense’s request for a non-custodial sentence and probation was rejected, with the judge deeming a community-based punishment inadequate to convey the severity of the crime.
The victim expressed in a statement the significant emotional distress caused by the incident, citing feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. As part of his probation terms, the convicted man is forbidden from accessing social media accounts, except for personal or business email use, and is prohibited from contacting or approaching the victim.