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 man was found guilty of distributing intimate images without consent after a trial. The offender’s identity is being withheld by CBC 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 sentence due to the serious breach of trust, significant moral responsibility, and retaliatory nature of the crime. Along with the jail time, the man will have 18 months of probation, perform 60 hours of community service, give a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling.
The court documents revealed that the man and the victim met on a dating app in May 2023, leading to both a personal and professional relationship. Although the victim had agreed to record intimate videos, she had made it clear that any content revealing her face or identifiable tattoos should not be made public. Despite this, the man uploaded two explicit videos to his public account on X platform in July 2024, shortly after the end of their relationship, with the intention to hurt and embarrass his ex-partner.
The videos remained online for around 46 days before the victim discovered them. One video showed her face entirely, while the other displayed a recognizable tattoo. After being confronted, the man deleted the first video but only removed the second one after direct contact from the victim.
The court classified the offense, commonly known as “revenge porn,” as a form of intimate partner violence, invasion of privacy, and a sexual crime. Judge Whitecloud-Brass emphasized the potential widespread distribution of the videos due to the open nature of the account.
Despite it being his first offense, the defence requested a non-custodial sentence with probation. However, the judge deemed a community-based punishment inadequate, emphasizing the seriousness of the crime. The victim expressed in a statement the emotional distress caused by the incident, including feelings of vulnerability and anxiety.
As part of his probation terms, the convicted man is banned from using social media except for personal or business email and is prohibited from contacting or approaching the victim.