Bloke, 36, in the cooler for leaking ex's topless pics on Facebook

Scumbag jailed for a year in California revenge porn first

The first conviction under California's anti-revenge-porn law was announced on Monday: 36-year-old Noe Iniguez was sentenced to a year in jail and three years' probation for posting topless pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook.

Under the law, the "unauthorized posting of nude or sexual images of an individual with the purpose of causing emotional distress" can result in up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Iniguez was also found guilty in a Los Angles court on two counts of violating a restraining order, adding six months to his smut sentence. The judge ordered him to attend domestic violence counseling and to stay away from the victim.

The victim obtained a restraining order against Iniguez back in November 2011 after he sent her aggressive text messages following the break-up of their four-year relationship.

The harassment continued and in December 2013, using an alias, he posted derogatory comments about her on her employer's Facebook page. Three months later, he posted a topless photo of her on the same page with a message calling her a "slut" and encouraging the company to fire her.

In a statement [PDF], LA's City Attorney Mike Feuer said: “California’s new revenge porn law gives prosecutors a valuable tool to protect victims whose lives and reputations have been upended by a person they once trusted. This conviction sends a strong message that this type of malicious behavior will not be tolerated.”

The revenge porn law was passed in California in October 2013 and was expanded in August this year to account for selfies – i.e. pictures taken by the victim themselves – after a study estimated that up to 80 per cent of revenge porn uses pictures taken by the individual themselves.

There are now 13 US states with some version of anti-revenge-porn law on their books, although a number of other states have persistently rejected such a law on free speech grounds. The National Conference of States Legislatures is tracking the issue.

There are two other cases going through California's courts regarding revenge porn – referred to officially as "cyber exploitation" – but they focus on the operators of websites hosting such pictures, and will use extortion laws rather than the revenge porn legislation.

Casey Meyering from Oklahoma was arrested in February for allegedly running the website WinByState that posted stolen pictures and encouraged former partners to post pictures they had of exes. The site charged victims $250 to remove the photos.

Meyering fought attempts to bring him to California, and lost. Following a preliminary hearing in September, bail was set at $100,000. He is in custody and his trial will begin on 15 December.

And in December last year, Kevin Christopher Bollaert, was arrested in San Diego and charged with 31 felonies for his alleged revenge porn website Ugotposted.com. Bollaert also allegedly charged victims to have their photos taken down, in this case up to $350 a time. He is also charged with extortion and his trial will begin early in the new year, according to the spokesman for California Attorney General, Kamala Harris. ®