A 31-year-old Nanaimo man was sentenced Wednesday, June 26 to nine months in prison. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

porn posting

Posting illicit, explicit photos online without consent earns Nanaimo man nine months in prison

Jun 26, 2019 | 10:16 AM

NANAIMO — It was an emotional day for a family who had to hear their son had taken photos of his girlfriends while they were passed out and posted them online.

They were at provincial court in Nanaimo on Wednesday, June 26 for the sentencing of a 31-year-old man. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 3, 2017 to one count of publishing intimate images without consent and two counts of secretly observing and recording nudity in a private place.

He’ll spend nine months in jail for the three charges followed by two years probation with strict conditions against social media and electronics.

The man can’t be named due to a publication ban in place to protect the identities of two victims, who he was in relationships with at the time of posting the photos.

Photos first surfaced on a pornography site in May, 2016, featuring a woman the man had dated several years before. There were also photos of his at-the-time girlfriend, who he was in a tumultuous relationship with.

winner winner

Clippers sweep pre-all star weekend with gritty win in Cowichan

6h ago

rental properties

Proposed Nanaimo housing complex advancing, despite 'significant' height & parking variances

Jan 11, 2025

Home Ice Win

Strong start propels Clippers to 6-3 win over Kings

Jan 11, 2025

The photos were posted by an account tied to the Nanaimo man. His family listened and cried in court as Judge Ronald Lamperson read out how the man described himself online as loving passed out drunk girls.

Lamperson painted a picture of how many times both women explicitly declined and were discomforted by being photographed and how clear they were about limits and boundaries.

Those boundaries were ignored and several hundred photos were found on the man’s computer by police after a warrant was issued.

Lamperson said the man’s actions were “reprehensible” and had caused significant emotional devastation.

Both victims submitted impact statements, which were selectively read out by Lamperson.

“My control was completely taken from me and I was left feeling unable to trust myself and my intuition,” the first woman wrote.

“Imagine my anger, my horror, my dread and sense of betrayal when I received a message from an anonymous friend…telling me to have a look at a porn site because I was on it. How sick I felt in my stomach to see pictures and movies that I never gave permission to take.”

The second victim said she feels an “overwhelming sense of shame,” suffers nightmare and experiences a “sense of emptiness and loneliness” after the photos were discovered.

One of the victims was in the court room and left visibly shaken and distraught as the sentence was read out.

In a pre-sentence report, the man said he took full responsibility for his actions but he still didn’t know what compelled him to put the explicit photos up online.

He will serve three months for each charge, served consecutively in jail starting Tuesday, July 2. He will undergo extreme counselling for his compulsions.

Judge Lamperson said it was an interesting case not only for the actions taken, but for the charge the man pleaded guilty to.

Secretly observing and recording nudity in a private place is a relatively recent charge, only brought forward in 2015.

Lamperson said while the man has taken responsibility for his actions and his own deterrence wasn’t a significant factor in his sentence, deterrence of others was a key concern.

“A message must be sent to members of the community who might be inclined to commit these sort of offenses.”

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit