A man from Yellowknife has received a 12-month jail term for sharing explicit videos of his ex-partner on social media without her permission. The 36-year-old was found guilty in a trial for distributing intimate images without consent, with the court withholding his identity to protect the victim.
In a written ruling on July 29, N.W.T. Territorial Court judge Stephanie Whitecloud-Brass decided against a community-based penalty due to the significant breach of trust, high moral culpability, and retaliatory nature of the offense. In addition to the jail term, the man will serve 18 months of probation, complete 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling.
The court proceedings revealed that the man and the victim initially met on a dating app in May 2023 and later transitioned into both professional and romantic partners. Despite the victim’s explicit instructions against sharing content featuring her identifiable features, the man posted two explicit videos on a public platform two days after their breakup in July 2024. The motive behind his actions was deemed retaliatory, aimed at causing harm and embarrassment to his ex-partner.
The videos, one of which exposed the victim’s face and another showing a distinctive tattoo, remained online for 46 days until the victim discovered them. While the first video was removed upon confrontation, the second was only deleted after direct intervention from the victim.
The court categorized the offense, commonly known as “revenge porn,” as a form of intimate partner violence, privacy violation, and sexual misconduct. Whitecloud-Brass emphasized the severity of the situation, highlighting the unlimited potential reach of the videos due to the man’s public account with 285 followers.
Despite the defense’s plea for a non-custodial sentence and probation citing it as a first-time offense, the judge concluded that a community-based penalty would not suffice. The victim’s impact statement shed light on the emotional distress caused by the incident, including feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances.
As part of his probation conditions, the convicted man is prohibited from using social media platforms, except for personal or business email purposes, and is forbidden from contacting or approaching the victim.