A man from Yellowknife has been handed a 12-month jail sentence for sharing explicit videos of his ex-partner on social media without her consent. The 36-year-old was found guilty of distributing intimate images without permission after a trial, with the court opting not to disclose his identity to protect the victim.
In a ruling issued on July 29, N.W.T. Territorial Court judge Stephanie Whitecloud-Brass decided against a community-based sentence due to the significant breach of trust, high moral responsibility, and retaliatory nature of the offense. In addition to serving the prison term, the man will undergo 18 months of probation, carry out 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling.
The incident unfolded following the couple’s breakup, with the man and the victim initially meeting on a dating app in May 2023. Despite previously consenting to recording sexual videos, the victim made it clear that any footage revealing her face or identifiable tattoos should not be shared publicly.
However, disregarding these boundaries, the man posted two explicit videos on the X platform just two days after the breakup in July 2024. The court concluded that his actions were motivated by revenge, aimed at causing harm and embarrassment to his former partner. The videos remained online for around 46 days before the victim discovered them, with one video exposing her face entirely and the other revealing a distinctive tattoo on her body.
Upon confrontation, the man removed the first video but only deleted the second after direct communication from the victim. The court classified the act, commonly known as “revenge porn,” as a form of intimate partner violence, breaching privacy and constituting a sexual offense.
Judge Whitecloud-Brass emphasized the severity of the crime, highlighting the videos’ potential for infinite distribution given the man’s public account with 285 followers. Despite it being his first offense, the defense’s plea for a non-custodial sentence was dismissed, with the judge deeming a community-based sanction inadequate.
The victim described the significant emotional impact in a statement, detailing feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances caused by the incident. As part of his probation terms, the convicted individual is prohibited from using social media platforms except for personal or business email purposes and is forbidden from contacting or approaching the victim.