A man from Yellowknife has received a 12-month jail term for sharing explicit videos of his ex-partner on social media without her consent. The 36-year-old man was found guilty of distributing intimate images without consent after a trial. To protect the victim’s identity, the offender’s name has not been disclosed.
In a sentencing decision released on July 29 by N.W.T. Territorial Court Judge Stephanie Whitecloud-Brass, it was determined that a community-based sentence was not suitable due to the significant breach of trust, high moral culpability, and retaliatory nature of the offense. Following the 12-month prison sentence, the man will also undergo 18 months of probation, complete 60 hours of community service, provide a DNA sample, and attend mandatory counseling.
The court heard that the man and the victim initially met on a dating app in May 2023, leading to a working relationship and a romantic involvement. Despite previous consent to record sexual videos, the victim had made it clear that any content showing her face or identifiable tattoos should never be made public. However, in July 2024, two days after the relationship ended, the man posted two explicit videos on his public account on the platform X. His motive was deemed retaliatory, aimed at hurting and humiliating his former partner post-breakup.
The videos remained online for about 46 days before the victim discovered them. One video exposed her face entirely, while the second revealed a distinctive tattoo on her body. Although the man deleted the first video when confronted, he only removed the second video after direct communication from the victim.
The crime, commonly known as “revenge porn,” was classified by the N.W.T. court as an act of intimate partner violence, privacy violation, and sexual offense. Judge Whitecloud-Brass emphasized the severity of the offense, stating that the potential distribution scope was vast as the videos were shared on an account with 285 followers, making it impossible to determine if others downloaded or re-shared the content.
Despite it being a first offense, the defense sought a non-custodial sentence with probation. However, the judge deemed a community-based sentence inadequate, emphasizing the need for the offender to understand the seriousness of his actions. In a victim impact statement, the woman detailed the emotional distress caused by the incident, including feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances.
As part of his probation terms, the convicted man is forbidden from accessing social media accounts, except for personal or business email use, and is prohibited from contacting or approaching the victim.