How New York’s Revenge Porn Law Left One Victim: ‘I Have a Very Deep Wound’

Syracuse, New York – Around 8 a.m. on an April morning, Zionna Lynn woke up and checked her phone. He saw a message that changed his life.

A former high school friend had sent her a Snapchat story of her ex-boyfriend. It showed the two having sex.

Lynn said she lost it. She burst into tears and had no idea what to do. She felt exposed. How many people had seen this?

Lynn, 18, called Syracuse police. Police collected the video and consulted with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

The district attorney’s office decided not to file charges against the man.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said prosecutors thought there was a problem in bringing a criminal case: They couldn’t prove that Lynn was identifiable in the video, which is a requirement of New York’s “revenge porn” law.

Laws aimed at combating revenge porn in New York are relatively new. Passed in 2019, the law allows victims to file misdemeanor charges or sue people who post intimate images without consent. Lawmakers, prosecutors and lawyers are still figuring out how to handle these cases fairly and appropriately.

Lynn approached. Siracusa.com | The Post-Standard will share their story and draw attention to the difficulties victims face in seeking justice and dealing with the emotional consequences. from having your private life revealed online.

“I have a really deep wound,” Lynn said, “and everyone acts like I’m not even bleeding.”

The video

The video was posted to a private story on Snapchat, Lynn said. A private story can be visible to anywhere from one to thousands of people. She said she never would have found out if her former friend hadn’t sent it to her.

She said her friend sent her the video to make fun of her. The video does not show her face, but she said her former friend recognized her. The video is recorded with her back to the recording device.

The title of the video said the man who posted it was looking for new “content creators” who could make similar videos to sell, Lynn said.

Lynn said she never gave consent for him to take videos of her on his phone or share them.

She said she had been refusing her ex-boyfriend’s requests to record videos of their sexual encounters. Finally, she relented on this condition: he could only record her using his phone so she could monitor what happened to them.

She later discovered that he moved the videos to her phone without her realizing or hid her phone while recording her.

She said she discovered he had the videos when he sent them to her as a threat.

“He told me he recorded me to sell me,” Lynn said.

the investigation

Lynn told police about the relationship and the video.

Fitzpatrick said the district attorney’s office reviewed the case and determined she was not identifiable enough to comply with state law.

She was told that because she was not clearly identifiable in the video, it would be difficult to bring criminal charges against the ex-boyfriend. Since her face is not visible and she does not have any identifying tattoos or marks, she was not identifiable beyond a reasonable doubt.

The law requires that victims be identifiable as an “essential element of the crime,” Fitzpatrick said. In the case of crimes, prosecutors have to prove that someone was a victim.

The police department told Lynn there was nothing more they could do, he said.

Although everything was done to the letter of the law, an 18-year-old girl has no recourse to seek justice. Lynn and her attorney Shea Maloy said they wished prosecutors and police had investigated further to prove the elements of the crime despite the potential identification problem.

Lynn and Maloy did not sue because the ex-boyfriend had no money.

the law

Revenge porn is a crime that is difficult to define and discourage. It is a harmful act that often carries the same emotional damage as other sexual crimes that have more serious consequences.

The state law criminalizing revenge porn requires prosecutors to prove several factors, including:

• Someone posted images or videos with another person’s “private parts” exposed or engaging in sexual conduct with the intent to cause harm to the person.
• The person depicted in the image “can reasonably be identified” from the image itself or from information displayed with the image.
• The person posting the image knew or reasonably should have known that the person in the image did not consent to the publication.

Defining those elements can be complicated. The law requires that the victim be identifiable. But what does identifiable mean? Lynn’s former friend seemed to be able to identify her, but that wasn’t enough.

The law also requires intent to cause emotional, financial, or physical harm. How can victims quantify the damage if, like Lynn, they don’t know how many people are viewing the images?

Revenge porn experts, however, say that simply posting images or videos online is harmful and an act of sexual violence.

The official accusation for the crime is the illicit dissemination or publication of an intimate image. It is a class A misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is one year in prison.

Fitzpatrick said his office does not have a specific policy for revenge porn. They are reviewed on a case by case basis.

The key factor here is defining “can be reasonably identified.”

A prosecutor can show that the person is identifiable in several ways, he said.

He said that in this case his face was not visible and that there were no other identifiable marks such as tattoos, birthmarks or personal information.

Does a person need to be identifiable to the average person for harm to be caused? Lynn said anyone familiar with the person who posted the video would have recognized her.

Lynn said he feels being able to identify himself in the video should be enough to press charges. Fitzpatrick said he agrees, but that’s not how he interprets the law.

“This woman knows it’s her and she knows that other people have looked at her in an intimate act with someone she once cared about,” Fitzpatrick said. “That should be enough under a statute to initiate a judicial process, but that is not how it is written. Someone else has to identify her.”

Fitzpatrick said the person who sent the video to Lynn asked her if she was the one depicted, implying she was not identifiable beyond a reasonable doubt.

Andrew M. Stengel, a New York City attorney who has worked on civil revenge porn cases and won verdicts for victims of more than $1 million. He said a case like Lynn’s is a difficult decision for prosecutors. He said prosecutors must be confident they can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Stefan Turkheimer, vice president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, said these laws assume that the goal of the crime was direct harassment of the victim.

Turkhiemer, the former Georgia prosecutor, said the law also requires that the images were posted with the intent to harm the subject. If that is the requirement of the crime, the victim must be identifiable.

But Turkenhiemer said motivations for posting nonconsensual pornography vary. He said perpetrators often post the images for their own gratification or financial gain, but that doesn’t make the harm done to victims any less real.

“All of these revenge porn laws have kind of a loophole,” Turkenhiemer said.

Lynn said her ex-boyfriend posted the images for financial gain and not to directly harm her.

“To be completely honest with you, I don’t know that the intention is that important to the survivor because the effects on the survivor are not different depending on what the intention was,” Turkenhiemer said, “The harm they experience, both emotionally and often physically, and the changes they have to make in their lives are very real to them.”

State Sen. Monica Martinez, D-Suffolk County, who sponsored the state’s revenge porn law, said she hopes the law can be changed to protect more people.

Martinez said he hopes victims don’t avoid reporting incidents because they fear nothing will happen.

“If there is a potential loophole where our victims know they are being victimized and it can’t be proven, we have to change that,” Martinez said.

the impact

Lynn still doesn’t know how many people have seen the video and is wary of new people, she said.

“I just don’t trust anyone anymore,” Lynn said.

Turkenhiemer said Lynn’s experience is not uncommon. RAINN often receives calls to its hotline in which survivors report that every time someone looks at them, they wonder if that person has seen images of them online.

“Those are real problems that the law simply doesn’t address,” Turkenhiemer said.

He said that publishing intimate images without consent is sexual violence.

“This is real trauma that has been inflicted on them,” Turkenhiemer said.

Lynn said she was suffering mentally after the video was sent to her. He said that at one point he felt like he couldn’t stand life anymore. He found a way to move forward and said he hopes others don’t beat themselves up in these situations.

“Don’t get hurt because you’re already hurt,” Lynn said. “Grow from it.”

In some cases, revenge porn, or simply the threat of it, can be deadly.

Shylynn M. DixonAn 18-year-old girl from St. Lawrence County committed suicide after scammers tricked her into sending nude photos of herself that were then used to blackmail her.

Lynn said she wanted to speak out about her experience to show other victims that they are not alone and that their pain should be acknowledged. He said even if nothing happens with his criminal case, he wants others to know to be open about what happened to them.

“A lot of girls have been in situations like this and couldn’t even talk about it,” Lynn said. “I want to make a change.”

Lynn said that throughout the experience she felt like she was going through stages of grief. It started with denial and eventually reached a point of acceptance.

“I lost a lot of myself. “I’m still trying to find myself again,” Lynn said.

Lynn, a Fowler High School dropout, said she has been in survival mode ever since.

Lynn, a lifelong Syracuse resident, said she wants a fresh start. He said he would have left Syracuse by now if he had the means. For now, look for a job and try to move forward.

“I’m stuck,” Lynn said. “When you’re alone at 18, no, it’s not easy.”

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Resources for Revenge Porn Victims

If you or someone you know is a victim of revenge porn or other sexual abuse crimes, help is available.

Dial 911 if you or someone is in immediate danger.

Call the Civil Rights Cyber ​​Initiative Image Abuse Hotline at 844-878-2274

Call RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline in 1-800-656-4673

Visit he Civil Cyber ​​Rights Initiative resource center For more information on how to request removal of images from various media, learn your rights, and explore possible next steps.

Call Casa Vera in 315-468-3260 for local assistance for victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and other problems.

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Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Do you have a tip, story idea, question or comment? You can contact her at [email protected].