Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but if said woman was planning on exacting her revenge by posting nude photos of her significant other, she better think twice. A woman from England was given jail time for posting sexually explicit images of her girlfriend online, and she now holds the dubious honor of being the first woman in the UK to be sentenced for revenge porn.
Paige Mitchell posted four naked images of her girlfriend on Facebook after an argument between the couple in which the victim accused Mitchell of looking at other women. The photos were captioned with humiliating insults and remained online for 30 minutes, but were taken down when Mitchell’s mother informed her it was illegal to post the photos online.
In addition to being sentenced to six-weeks for revenge porn, Mitchell also pled guilty to common assault and received a two-week sentence for that charge. Both sentences were suspended for 18 months, but will be served concurrently. While the couple reconciled after the incident, Mitchell asked the court to issue her with a restraining order that would prevent her from having any further contact with the victim.
Revenge porn laws went into effect in England in April. Since then, it is estimated that about a dozen men have been convicted of the crime, but Mitchell marks the first case where a female has been prosecuted and subsequently sentenced.
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Joanna Coleman of the Crown Prosecution Service stated, “These vengeful crimes are predominantly thought of as being carried out by men. This sentencing will highlight that anyone can be guilty of this offence and regardless of the defendant’s gender, once reported, it will be taken seriously. Crimes where an intimate image of an individual is shared without their permission in such a public forum is invasive, humiliating and distressing for the victim and leaves them feeling violated. It can have a huge impact on the victim and I am pleased that more people are having the confidence to come forward and report these crimes.”
Finrod
You didn’t include her picture? She looks like she does cage fights with grizzly bears.
sportyguy1983
How dumb are people to freely allow themselves videotaped/photographed naked or having sex (I am assuming it was freely agreed to by both women in this case as this story doesn’t hint it wasn’t).
SonOfKings
@sportyguy1983: Yes it is unwise to share our “bare” secrets with other individuals in this way, but that still does not give someone the right to ride around town with a “bullhorn” loudly denouncing a former lover, which is what posting new photos without permission is the rough equivalent of. It’s harrassment, and it’s a crime. And I think it’s we put people in jail for engaging in bullying, harrassing behavior, and extortion (“break up with me and I’ll publish your nude photos). It’s kind of like publishing someone’s home address and telephone number on the Internet because you’re mad at the and want to see them publically dragged through hell. You can do that, but you can also go to jail for that.
Captain Obvious
@sportyguy1983: Because you’re never going to be asleep naked in the same bed as a partner, using the bathroom naked with a partner, etc. They have no access to your naked body to quickly snap a picture with a smartphone. Nope… not gonna happen.
Blame the victim all you want but no one should have to sit around paranoid worrying about cameras all day long. The blame and shame should fall squarely on the idiots who can’t let things go and are always out for revenge all the time.
Garbage like this used to be a rare thing now it’s commonplace and even being accepted full of excuses that blame the victim as if it’s their fault that some idiot is out to hurt them.
Would you say it was the victim’s fault if her loser “girlfriend” beat the hell out of her and put her in the hospital instead of posting nudes online?