Revenge Porn Family Offense Petitions
Revenge Porn Orders of Protection
New York Family Court is a powerful weapon to fight back against abusers of revenge porn. When the legislature enacted Civil Rights Law 52-B, they also amended Article 8 of the Family Court Act to include unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image as a family offense. This change to the law allows victims of revenge porn to go into family court and file an action against their abuser based solely on the sharing of naked images of sex videos.
Family Offense Proceedings are Fast and Private
One of the benefits of filing a Family Offense petition for revenge porn is the proceedings are fast and private. The exhibits and allegations are not a matter of public records. The only people who have access to the case file are court personnel, the judge, and law clerks. Victims are not required to share their naked images or videos with strangers; the only people who have access to the documents are professionals who are under an ethical obligation to keep the files private.
Family court is also fast. Rather than waiting for a lawsuit to be served, a victim can obtain immediate relief from their abuser.
Family Offense Petitions can Be Filed if Your Ex Threatens to Share Naked Videos.
Revenge porn victims who are being threatened by their ex to share their images with co-workers, friends, family members or strangers can file a family offense petition. While the respondent needs to be a roommate, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, an intimate relationship is all that is needed to bring the family offense.
A Temporary Order of Protection Stops the Abuser From Sharing Images and Videos
After filing a family offense petition, the Family Court can issue a temporary order of protection to prevent the perpetrator from continuing the share your naked videos and images. Once served with the order of protection, the perpetrator faces additional charges if he or she continues to post the images and videos online.
A victim can also request that the abuser take down the images that have been shared online and remove the explicit videos from the internet.
Perpetrators Can be Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees
While a victim cannot obtain monetary damages for their loss, a perpetrator can be ordered to pay attorney fees for bringing a family offense petition. They can also be ordered to pay for a victim’s therapy and other treatment a victim was required to undergo because of the perpetrator’s actions.
Filing a family offense petition in family court does not prevent a victim from filing a civil lawsuit for damages.