Avenging “Revenge Porn” Exploitation

Two victims of "Revenge Porn" have found justice through a 2019 law sponsored by New York State Senator Monica R. Martinez.  The rulings issued in Nassau County by Acting Supreme Court Justice Felice Muraca awarded a total of $3.4 million in damages plus attorney fees to two women.  Their separate intimate encounters with a Long Island resident while visiting Jamaica were recorded and posted online, in violation of the state’s law prohibiting the dissemination and publication of explicit and intimate images without consent.  According to the lawsuits, the consequences of the recordings made and released in 2020 are still causing the victims to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and damages to their personal and professional reputations. 

“With intimacy comes trust, and when that trust is broken, the repercussions can be enduring,” said Senator Martinez.  “The ‘Revenge Porn’ law I introduced was intended to prevent individuals from having their consensual personal encounters weaponized against them.  With this ruling, we see the cost for perpetrators who violate that trust.”

Senator Martinez began her work to protect victims of 'Revenge Porn' during her tenure with the Suffolk County Legislature, where she passed a ban on the dissemination and publication of explicit and intimate images without consent.  After joining the state, Senator Martinez led the historic 2019 effort to criminalize coercion statewide through the non-consensual release of intimate images and videos, providing the legal framework for the lawsuits decided by the Nassau County Supreme Court.  

As a follow-up to her initial bill, Senator Martinez is calling for an expansion of protections under the state’s “Revenge Porn” law to include the making of a threat to disseminate such material in order to harm another person.  Currently, the proposal is pending in both the Senate and Assembly.  If enacted, violators could face up to one year in jail and fines.