Richard is a leading criminal defence solicitor who represents those falsely accused of revenge porn. Although not strictly regarded as a sex crime (and so complainants have no right to anonymity), revenge pornography has been recognised for a number of years but was finally specifically criminalised by section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, which makes it an offence for a person to disclose a private sexual photograph or film if such a disclosure is made without the consent of an individual who appears in the photograph or film and it is disclosed with the intention of causing that individual distress (this intention must be proved and it is not sufficient for the prosecution to merely rely on the fact that distress was a natural and probable consequence of the disclosure).
The offence carries a maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment if convicted on indictment but is committed only if the disclosure is to someone other than the person in the image.
There are a number of statutory defences:
- One is that the person charged had a reasonable belief that disclosure was necessary to prevent, detect or investigate crime. The burden is on the accused to prove such a believe, on the balance of probabilities;
- Another is if the disclosure was made in the course of, or with a view to, the publication of journalistic material and the person charged reasonably believed that that publication was or would be in the public interest. The accused is required to adduce sufficient evidence to raise this defence but it will then be for the prosecution to the contrary, beyond reasonable doubt;
- A further defence is if the person charged reasonably believed that the photograph or film had been previously disclosed for reward, whether by the person in the image or anyone else, and they had no reason to believe that that previous disclosure had been made without consent. As with the journalistic material proviso, The accused is required to adduce sufficient evidence to raise this defence but it will then be for the prosecution to the contrary, beyond reasonable doubt.
What you should do if you are falsely accused of revenge porn
You need to instruct an revenge porn legal expert, such as Richard. He will be able to help you navigate the complexities of defending such an allegation, and importantly help you to secure and preserve the evidence that you will need to raise one of the statutory defences outlined above, including:
- Any and all relevant social media and other digital or analogue interaction and communication;
- Testimony from third party witnesses who may have first hand knowledge as to your intentions and / or the antecedents of the image in question.
