Revenge Porn Charges On College Campuses

On college campuses in Washington, DC and elsewhere around the country, revenge pornography has become more and more prevalent often leading to criminal charges.

Below, a DC student defense lawyer discusses what revenge porn is and how an attorney can help if you are charged. To learn more about these charges and what they could mean for you, call and schedule a consultation today.

What Is Revenge Porn?

Revenge porn usually occurs in a situation where a relationship ends between two people and one person decides to publicize what were originally private photographs or videos. The photographs or videos were usually made consensually between the two parties, but sometimes one person takes pictures from their partner’s camera and publishes them. It is usually done, as the term suggests, to get revenge against that person.

Revenge activity can cause a lot of emotional damage and it can be a huge embarrassment for the victim. Particularly with young people or students, it can be really devastating and that is why educational institutions have started to establish rules to try to prevent it.

Evidence Used in Revenge Porn Cases

Typically it would be pictures or the other electronic evidence that has been publicized.

Also there might be accompanying evidence such as text messages, e-mails, and posts to establish the identity of the person who published the material. Only showing the explicit photographs or videos is not enough, you have to prove the person who is accused actually did the publishing.

Are There Any Issues With This Type of Evidence?

The problem would be one of authentication. How do you prove that the person who is accused actually sent or published the photographs and how do you prove that these photographs were taken without permission from the purported victim? In other words, how do you show that the person who is making the accusation did not publish the material themselves or agree to have them published?

Benefits of Hiring a Student Defense Lawyer

A student defense lawyer can bring experience and technical knowledge to bear. A student defense lawyer will also know when an expert is required to come in to look at computer forensic evidence determine if there is an authenticity problem, such as someone impersonating someone else to shift the blame from themselves because they are engaged in cyber bullying, or if there is an issue determining the source of a particular message. These are all different things a student defense lawyer will be able to look at.

What Can Be Done To Help Someone Accused of Revenge Porn?

One of the keys is to really take a look at the forensic evidence. Look at the computer and the forensic history to see which e-mails actually went back and forth. An attorney would have to determine whether or not there is forensic evidence proving the person accused actually possessed the pornographic material.

Is there an e-mail chain that can be traced back to your client to show exactly where the evidence was given to that person who then published it?  If you do not have that evidence, then that can certainly form the basis of a potential defense.