CLARK COUNTY, Ind. — The first person has been charged in Clark County, after a new law went into effect making revenge porn illegal in Indiana.
Documents say 31 year-old Dayo Lees is accused of posting explicit photos and videos of himself and his ex-girlfriend on Snapchat after the two broke up. Lees' ex-girlfriend also has an emergency protective order against Lees.
"This is the first case that I have had the opportunity to use Indiana's new revenge pornography law," Clark Co. Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said.
With the rise of technology and social media, cases like this are becoming common, although the concept existed in different forms many years ago.
"In today's age, with social media, what we see is those same sorts of images being distributed online, many times to harass or embarrass someone after a relationship has ended," Mull said.
According to Mull, his "hands were somewhat tied" in cases involving revenge porn, until the law went into effect July first.
"There was not a statue specifically that allowed me to file charges against someone for publicly humiliating another person by doing this," he said. "That law makes it a criminal offense to post what is defined as an intimate image of an individual online and that is essentially photographs or videos of someone who is naked or engaged in intimidate sexual activity."
Both criminal and civil charges are now possible after the Indiana legislature passed two laws making it illegal.
"It is something that has been going on for many years, but certainly the last few years, the frequency of this conduct has increased and it has become evident we need a remedy to deal with this criminally," Mull said.
Under the law, the first offense is a misdemeanor charge, but more than once, it becomes a felony.
"Although this law is a very good start to addressing it, I think that ultimately, we'll need to increase the penalties for this to deter people from doing it," Mull said.
He said the consequences revenge porn can have on a victim's life are severe.
"When I look at the damage that this does to people's lives, it's of such a severity that I think it warrants harsher penalties than simply misdemeanor penalties because of the shame, and the embarrassment and humiliation it can cause a victim of such offenses," Mull said.
These cases are something Mull said he sees popping up in schools. He said at a young age, kids son't always think about long-term consequences to their actions, especially when it pertains to posting online.
"I'm seeing a rise in the prevalence of young people distributing images of other young people in the school on social media," he said. "There have been cases across the nation where the victims of such behavior have committed suicide or have had very severe mental health problems."
With the law in effect, Mull expects more of these cases and eh said it'll likely be easy to prove criminal wrong-doing.
Lees has been charged and Mull said he is expected to appear in court soon, although a date has not yet been set.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.