Recently, a Brooklyn Center man was arrested and charged with four counts of criminal defamation. What were the circumstances? As it turns out, he allegedly posted multiple sex tapes to Facebook that featured two of his ex-girlfriends.
This appears to be an incident of revenge porn, where someone tries to get revenge on a former sexual partner by posting explicit images of them online. What complicates the matter legally is it there are no official laws against revenge porn in Minnesota (and in the vast majority of other states). So far, the only two states that have a legal ban on revenge porn are New Jersey and California.
As such, the man was charged under criminal defamation, which is a gross misdemeanor. What do prosecutors have to demonstrate when someone is charged with defamation? In this case, the victims would need to have been exposed in a way that could bring them disgrace, degradation, hatred and ridicule, or possible harm to their business or occupation.
Another issue that could be worth considering is the extent to which the tapes were made consensually, though it appears they were posted without permission. The man in question also appears to have a history of making unwanted communications towards his ex-girlfriends, including needing to be escorted by police from one of their workplaces and prompting them to change their phone numbers. This history could come into play during the trial.
Internet crimes of this nature are relatively new territory. Given that there isn’t a specific law in Minnesota that deals with revenge porn, one of the issues is how to define these acts under existing law. In a given set of circumstances, which of these laws is truly applicable? If you find yourself charged with similar crimes, contact a Minneapolis criminal defense lawyer who will review the details of the case and fight for the state to proceed with fairness and reason.