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 after a trial for distributing intimate images without permission. The court withheld the offender’s name to protect the victim’s identity.
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 culpability, and retaliatory nature of the offense. After serving his 12-month imprisonment, the man will also undergo 18 months of probation, complete 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling.
The incident occurred following the couple’s breakup, as disclosed in the sentencing details. The man and the victim initially met on a dating app in May 2023, leading to a relationship that involved both work and romance. Despite the victim’s prior consent to record intimate videos, she explicitly stated that any content revealing her face or identifiable tattoos should not be shared publicly.
Nevertheless, the man disregarded these boundaries and posted two explicit videos on his public X account in July 2024, shortly after the end of their relationship. The court concluded that his actions were vindictive, aimed at causing harm and embarrassment to his former partner post-breakup. The videos remained online for around 46 days before the victim discovered them, with one video showing her face and the other revealing a recognizable tattoo on her body.
When confronted, the man deleted the first video but only removed the second after the victim contacted him directly. The court classified the offense, known as “revenge porn,” as intimate partner violence, a breach of privacy, and a sexual crime.
Judge Whitecloud-Brass highlighted the severity of the situation, emphasizing that the wide accessibility of the videos on an account with 285 followers posed an unpredictable risk of further distribution. Despite the defense’s plea for a non-custodial sentence and probation citing it as a first offense, the judge deemed a community-based penalty inadequate.
In her victim impact statement, the woman expressed the profound emotional distress caused by the incident, including feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. As part of his probation terms, the convicted individual is restricted from using any social media platforms except for personal or business email and is prohibited from contacting or approaching the victim.