SELECTED CASE LAW
ONTARIO:
In [2016] OJ No 7080 (ONCJ), Mr. H dated the victim and had surreptitiously recorded their sexual activity. He had a pattern of sexual exhibitionism and had posted sexual images of himself online in the past and was sexually aroused by watching videos of a person engaged in sexual activity when they do not know they are being filmed. Mr. H later posting the videos of the complainant on a pornography site and sent a link to some of their friends. The court noted that Mr. H claimed that he posted the videos “as a type of bragging that he was having sexual relations with a beautiful woman.”
The court noted about the victim impact statement:
The complainant has provided a very thoughtful Victim Impact Statement. This offence has had a tremendous impact on her life. On the one hand, this offence constituted the ultimate breach of trust on a personal level. The defendant was well aware of her lack of consent in the videotaping of their sexual relationship, yet proceeded not only to do so, but to share that video for his own selfish motives. She feels that she has been stripped of her dignity and humanity and had been made an object, a fetish. This lack of respect for her as a person, from a person who purported to love her, has led her to believe that anyone who may have viewed the depictions will share the same lack of respect. Although she acknowledges that the defendant permitted her to satisfy herself that the videos and photos were deleted from all of the defendant’s accounts, she cannot be assured that any individual who had access to the videos or photos has done the same.
In effect, the complainant has to live with the knowledge that anyone she meets may have had access to viewing her in intimate moments. This has led her to feel that the defendant has stripped her of her ability to feel safe. She feels vulnerable. She has changed her activities, the activities she used to enjoy with family members, as she no longer feels safe alone. She has suffered humiliation as she has had to disclose this to her superior as she works in the education sector and any disclosure of this would reflect negatively on the organization. She had explained this repeatedly to the defendant during the relationship. She fears losing her career if this is revealed publicly.
She succinctly summarized the impact as follows, and I quote:
“If B.H. had assaulted me physically in some way and there was no video or pictures, no audience, I would have an easier time to deal with this privately and move on with my life. Because of the extreme fear of the unknown I now have, because he stripped me of control over my own image, because he made pictures and videos of me naked, that I didn’t know about, and then distributed them, which I also did not know about, I don’t believe my life will ever be the same again. No amount of rehabilitation or punishment for B.H. will ever make me whole again.”[1]
Mr. H was sentenced to 90 days incarceration, which the court noted was at the “very low end of the range for this offence.”
[1] [2016] OJ No 7080 (ONCJ) at paras 13-16.
Criminal Offence(s): Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images