Revenge Porn
Revenge porn, also known as nonconsensual pornography, is treated as a sex crime in New York. Revenge porn can occur online, through text message, email, or in person. Victims of revenge porn can sue under New York City Administrative Code 10-180, Unlawful Disclosure of an Intimate Image, New York Penal Law 245.15, Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image, and New York Civil Rights Law 52-B.
What is Revenge Porn?
Revenge porn normally occurs when a person’s former lover shares or threatens to share intimate images that were supposed to remain private. The courts consider an intimate image to be a naked photograph or video taken by a victim or a third party, or a photograph or video of a victim engaging in a sexual act. Often the images are taken by or for a former significant other, such as a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife. Nude selfies sent by text messages can also be the basis of a revenge porn lawsuit.
Nonconsensual pornography also occurs when an ex records him or herself engaging in a sex act with the victim and then shares or threatens to share the video or pictures with someone else.
It does not matter if a victim consented to the recording or took the picture themselves. What makes the sharing of the content actionable or criminal is that the victim did not consent to the content being shared in the manner it was shared.
If a spouse or former partner shares or threatens to share the intimate image or video to hurt you, then you may have a case for revenge porn. Harassers, tormentors, and abusers often threaten to share nude photographs with family and friends or threaten to upload the images or videos to websites like Pornhub, xHamster, Anon-ib, 4chan, or Facebook. Once the intimate image is shared, it can be found online through Google, Yahoo, and Bing search results. The right attorney can help remove the naked photographs, file a DMCA Takedown Notice, learn who put the images online, and start a lawsuit for damages.
How to Protect Yourself as a Victim of Revenge Porn: The First Step
If you are a victim of revenge porn, you should immediately save everything you can. To file a police report or civil lawsuit you must preserve as much evidence as possible. Taking screenshots of the website is a good start, but it’s also important to document the website’s URL and all information you can find. Once you find the intimate image or video online, save it immediately to a secure location. Using the image you saved, perform reverse image searches. This will allow you to learn where else your intimate image has been shared.
Why are screenshots not enough in revenge porn cases? Oftentimes, they do not contain important information, like the URL where naked photographs or videos appeared. After taking a screenshot of the website, you should also save the webpage as a PDF using a desktop or laptop computer. Make sure to click on the “Print headers and footers” tab to include the entire webpage. The website address starts with either http:// or https://. Also valuable are your communications with the person who disseminated or threatened to disseminate your images or videos. Make sure your phone is not set to auto-delete old messages and take actions to download your conversations and save them someplace secure. There are many apps available online that can help you download your text messages as PDFs. If your friend or family received your intimate images, don’t forget to ask them to preserve the information.
Other Steps to Protect Yourself After You Have Become a Victim of Revenge Porn
Revenge porn victims should also keep a journal or Google Doc of their efforts to remove the nude videos and/or photographs.
The district attorney or your revenge porn lawyer can help you through the preservation process in a private, safe, and secure way. Until you hire a lawyer, it is important to start the process yourself. Victims of revenge porn can find relief in Family Court, Supreme Court, or Criminal Court.
If you do not have the resources to retain an attorney, reach out to the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative for a list of pro bono attorneys. Filing a police report is free and there is no fee to file a petition for a family offense in Family Court. It is important to act fast once you realize you have been a victim of revenge porn and take action before the statute of limitations runs.
How is Revenge Porn Shared?
Revenge porn cases are not limited to private communications by email or text. While naked photographs are often shared through text messages or emails, a former significant other may record you in a sexual act using his cellphone only to upload the nude images on social media sites like Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr. Sometimes revenge porn is shared on WhatsApp and Snapchat. Porn websites such as Youporn, xHamster, Pornhub, FetLife, Redtube, and XVideo are filled with nonconsensual pornography. We have been able to identify anonymous harassers from many of these websites and have the offending content removed.
Removing Revenge Porn from the Internet
Screenshot the websites, save the images, and save the websites. Once you have preserved your evidence for both the prosecutors and your civil case, there are ways to immediately have revenge porn removed from websites and search results.
Removing revenge porn from the internet can be a difficult process. Google allows you to fill out a form to remove unauthorized images and videos from the search results. A victim can also file a DMCA Takedown Notice on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Twitter.
It is important to remove nonconsensual pornography from the internet quickly. The longer it remains online, the more likely it is that third parties will copy the naked images and share them online.
Filing a Revenge Porn Lawsuit
Filing a revenge porn lawsuit is just one of the ways that you can find relief. New York City and State’s Revenge Porn laws are in Civil Rights Law 52-B, Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image, NYC Administrative Code 10-180 (formerly 10-177), Unlawful Disclosure of an Intimate Image, and Penal Law 245.15.
Filing a Revenge Porn Lawsuit Anonymously
New York Revenge Porn laws are very difficult to navigate. A victim of revenge porn can sue for emotional distress, money damages, injunctive relief, and punitive damages. An injunction stops a person from sharing your intimate images.
A victim of revenge porn may also sue using his or her initials. Privacy is important in revenge porn cases and forcing an individual to bring an action using his or her true name is needlessly revictimizing. There is no reason the court system should make you a victim a second time. Before retaining an attorney, be sure to make clear that you want them to file an application to allow you to bring the case anonymously.
Revenge Porn and Family Court
In many instances, a revenge porn victim can get an order of protection in Family Court, which is a private and sealed process. The Family Court Act now allows a victim to file for a temporary order of protection pursuant to Article 8, Section 842, of the New York Family Court Act. Because there is no civil order of protection for those who have fallen victim to revenge porn, if you were in an intimate relationship with your abuser, Family Court is a very important place for a victim to bring an action.
To start a Family Court action, you must file a Family Court Petition and present your evidence to the court. You may be able to immediately get an order of protection stopping your ex from sharing your images. A temporary order of protection lasts from one appearance to the next; a final order of protection for revenge porn can be up to two years or five years. If a harasser violated a Family Court Order of Protection, the ex can face criminal contempt charges.
We Have Years of Experience with Revenge Porn
We have extensive courtroom experience with revenge porn cases in New York and New Jersey and have been bringing actions to protect victims of revenge porn since before the state or city had specific laws against it. Below are some of the cases and scenarios we have litigated relating to revenge porn.
The Situation: Our client was being anonymously impersonated on the websites Manhunt.com, Alt.com, Adam4Adam.com, Manjam.com and Deviantdating.com.
The Solution: Our office obtained discovery documents, identified the impersonator, and reached a settlement (Westchester County).
The Situation: Anonymous emails were sent to our client’s bosses containing naked photographs using a Gmail account.
The Solution: Our office tracked the Gmail account and source of the images, identifying the person responsible for sending the images (Bronx County).
The Situation: Our client’s naked images and videos were shared on Tumblr to over 600 accounts.
The Solution: Our office obtained information from Tumblr, Google, Microsoft, and Oath, leading to the removal of the images and multiple financial settlements (New York County).
The Situation: Intimate Images and videos of our client were shared on Tumblr alongside her social media account information, workplace, and other identifying information.
The Solution: Our office filed the first lawsuit under the NYC Administrative Code 10-180 (formerly 10-177), Unlawful Disclosure of an Intimate Image for damages. Civil litigation is ongoing, however the Defendant recently pleaded guilty in criminal court (New York County).
The Situation: Our client’s ex sent a text message to her husband containing a video of our client performing oral sex.
The Solution: Our office started a lawsuit against the ex-boyfriend alleging violations of revenge porn laws (Bronx County).
The Situation: Our client engaged in a sexual relationship with her boss, who took naked photographs her. The boss then stole our client’s cell phone and sent images of our client engaging in sexual acts to her husband.
The Solution: We filed a lawsuit against the employer using our client’s initials (Queens County).
The Situation: Videos taken between our client and her ex were put online almost 10 years later. Our client’s ex then directed our client’s husband to the website on which the videos appeared.
The Solution: The court allowed the lawsuit and file to be sealed and our client to use her initials (Bronx County).
Other Forms of Online Harassment
Revenge porn is just one area of cyberstalking. There are many other ways people commit actionable wrongs online.
Revenge Porn and Sextortion
The FBI defines sextortion as “a criminal act that occurs when someone demands something of value, typically images of a sexual nature, sexual favors, or money, from a person by” threatening to release or distribute material the victim seeks to keep private. Intimate images, naked photographs, sex tapes, and nude selfies are often the basis for sextortion. Sextortion is a new term and not yet defined in the New York Penal Law. Extortion is a crime in New York and is found in New York Penal Law 155.05(2)(e).
Requesting naked photographs can be a form of coercion. NY Penal Law § 135.60, coercion in the second degree, makes it illegal to try to force someone to share their nude pictures through threats.
Revenge Porn and Harassment
New York’s harassment laws prohibit activities which are designed to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm a person.
It is not uncommon for a perpetrator of revenge porn to use intimate images to harass his or her victim. Harassment in the First Degree, Penal Law § 240.25, occurs when a perpetrator intentionally and repeatedly harasses another person by following such person in or about a public place or places or by repeatedly committing acts which places such person in reasonable fear of physical injury. Harassment in the Second Degree occurs when a perpetrator, with the intention to harass, annoy, or alarm a person, strikes or threatens to strike a person, follows a person in public places, or acts in a way that causes alarm or seriously annoys another person without any legitimate purpose for acting in such a manner.
Our courts deem bombarding someone with text messages and internet messages as cyber stalking and harassment.
Revenge Porn and Unlawful Surveillance and Dissemination
Revenge porn laws require that you give the Defendant your images. If someone obtains an image or images of the sexual or other intimate parts of another person or persons unlawfully and then shares them, they can be guilty of a different law: Penal Law § 250.55, Dissemination of an Unlawful Surveillance Image in the Second Degree.
A person can be guilty of Penal Law § 250.45(1), Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree where an ex-partner or any other third party for his or her own amusement, entertainment, or profit, or for the purpose of degrading or abusing a person uses or installs a recording device at a place and time when the victim expects privacy.
Hiring an Experienced Revenge Porn Lawyer
We are different than other revenge porn attorneys. With a background in cyber forensics, we have years of tracking down online harassers and cyber stalkers and gathering important evidence that will assist you in finding justice. Prior to hiring a revenge porn lawyer, do your research and speak to the attorneys who will be handling your case. Ask them if they ever defended a perpetrator in Criminal Court or Family Court who has committed an act of revenge porn against their former partner. Ask them how many times they have filed an application allowing their client to proceed anonymously. Our firm has NEVER represented a person who has committed the act of revenge porn. We owe it to our clients to only represent victims of this horrific crime because revenge porn is indefensible.
Daniel Szalkiewicz & Associates has dedicated over 12 years to pursuing justice for victims of revenge porn. Before revenge porn was a crime, we fought for victims in civil court and family court using theories such as intentional infliction of emotional distress.