Teen given probation for sharing nude photos of ex

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This article was published 04/07/2019 (2505 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 14-year-old boy who posted nude photos of his ex-girlfriend on social media because he was angry with her has been handed probation and community service.

The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Tuesday to distributing an intimate image without consent.

Police became aware of the incident on Feb. 7, Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter said, when an employee of a group home in Brandon reported that an ex-boyfriend of a child in their care had just posted nude photos of her on Facebook.

The images consisted of full frontal nudity as well as some of the girl in her undergarments, Tschetter said.

Officers spoke to the victim, who confirmed the photos were on her ex’s Facebook page, and that he had posted them out of anger after she had told him she had slept with someone else.

She told police she had taken the photos herself and sent them to the teen as they were in a relationship, Tschetter said, and that she hadn’t sent photos to anyone else.

The victim said she did not wish for the photos to be shared and was “extremely upset” discussing what had happened with police, Tschetter said.

“The photos have since been taken down off of Facebook, but unfortunately once something is posted to the internet you lose all control over what ultimately happens to those photographs,” Tschetter said. “We cannot say that no one else would have saved the photographs or shared them … it’s a very unfortunate set of circumstances, and this is ultimately going to be haunting (the victim) for quite some time.”

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens said the teen has expressed sincere remorse for his actions and has talked openly about changes he will make in relationships going forward.

The teen demonstrated this remorse through an early guilty plea, Janssens noted, sparing the victim from having to come to court and testify in a trial.

“He said he regrets (his actions) from his heart and is willing to accept whatever consequences occur from here,” Janssens said. “Despite his very poor decision, hopefully he can move forward from this.”

Judge John Combs sentenced the teen to two years of supervised probation and 30 hours of community service.

“You’re only 14 years old. You’ve got a lot to learn about life, but I hope you at least appreciate the consequences and the level of cruelty involved with posting those kind of pictures,” Combs said. “This is something that is going to hound this person for a lot of years, and something you did in anger has serious consequences. As an adult, you might be going to jail for this … I hope this will be a learning experience for you.”

The teen is also prohibited from accessing social media while on probation.

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