A man from Yellowknife has been handed 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 of distributing intimate images without consent after a trial, with the court opting not to disclose his identity to protect the victim’s anonymity.
In a ruling issued on July 29 by N.W.T. Territorial Court judge Stephanie Whitecloud-Brass, it was decided that a community-based penalty was not suitable due to the serious breach of trust, significant moral responsibility, and retaliatory nature of the offense. Apart from the jail term, the man will be on probation for 18 months, complete 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and undergo mandatory counseling.
The sentencing decision outlined the events leading to the crime, indicating that the man and the victim initially met on a dating app in May 2023. Their relationship later transitioned into a professional and romantic partnership. Although the victim had consented to recording intimate videos, she had made it clear that any footage revealing her face or identifiable tattoos should never be made public.
Despite these boundaries, the man uploaded two explicit videos to his public account on the X platform in July 2024, just two days after the breakup. The court concluded that his actions were driven by retaliation, aimed at causing harm and embarrassment to his ex-partner. The videos remained online for 46 days before the victim became aware of them, with one video showing her face and the other exposing a recognizable tattoo on her body.
The judge categorized the offense, commonly known as “revenge porn,” as a form of intimate partner violence, privacy violation, and sexual misconduct. Due to the videos being posted on a public account with 285 followers, the potential reach of the content was deemed limitless, raising concerns about further distribution.
Despite the defense’s plea for a non-custodial sentence and probation citing it as a first offense, the judge ruled that a community-based penalty was inadequate. In her statement, Whitecloud-Brass highlighted the severity of the crime and the emotional distress suffered by the victim. As part of his probation terms, the convicted individual is prohibited from using social media, except for personal or business email, and is forbidden from contacting or approaching the victim.