PEI

Man posting 'revenge porn' sentenced to 22 months in jail

Brian Robert MacAdam was sentenced to 22 months in jail for posting intimate images of women on a website where pornographic photos of women were traded.

'They're a significant invasion of the victims' privacy'

Brian Robert MacAdam has been sentenced to 22 months in jail for posting intimate images of six females on a website. (CBC)

A Charlottetown man has been sentenced to 22 months in jail for posting intimate images of six females on a website.

Court heard Brian Robert MacAdam, 28, posted an image of an ex-girlfriend and five other females to a site that allows people to post pornographic images anonymously.

One of the victims was 17 at the time, so MacAdam was also charged with distributing child pornography.

Crown attorney Lisa Goulden called it a case of cyber bullying and revenge porn.

"They're a significant invasion of the victims' privacy," she said.

According to the agreed facts, many of the names of the women were used as part of the file names of the images.

"These women were posted, their pictures were posted, they were identified by name, and by locations in some cases," Goulden told CBC after the sentencing.

"A Google search could find those women. You don't know what kind of people are out there who could be considering stalking behaviour, harassing behaviour."

The identities of the victims are protected by a publication ban.

Someone looks at a computer screen that is out of focus.
Publication of an intimate image, without consent of the person in the photo, is a criminal offence. (CBC)

According to facts presented in court, MacAdam posted 69 images to the website, 41 of which were deemed "intimate" under the criminal code.

It is a criminal offence to post intimate images without the consent of the person in the photo.

Police started their investigation after one of MacAdam's former girlfriends contacted them earlier this year after she discovered a nude photo of herself posted online.

Investigators identified several other women from P.E.I. whose photos had been posted without their consent. Some did not know MacAdam and did not know how he got their photos.

The Crown said all the photos were taken down after about a month. 

But court heard Monday investigators didn't know how many times the photos had been viewed or shared.

The Crown described the impact as "very significant and long lasting."

MacAdam pleaded guilty at an earlier court appearance. In court Monday he apologized for his actions saying, "I take full responsibility and feel terrible for the victims."

He told court he let drugs, alcohol and pornography take over his life but he promised to change his behaviour.

The judge told him he'd be eligible for counselling in jail.

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With files from Laura Meader