SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Seminole County man is the second in the county to face charges under the Florida’s new revenge porn law.
The law, enacted last October, makes it a crime to post sexually explicit photos online in an effort to seek revenge or harass an ex.
Steven Ward allegedly sent a screen grab of his Facebook page to the victim.
Deputies said he posted a naked photo of her on his page that was clearly meant to be private.
“This law has been a long time coming. There have been just too many victims of this type of posting not to have a law on the books,” said WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.
Ward was arrested in December on domestic violence charges against the woman in the photo.
The victim showed deputies a text she got from Ward that said, “Your photos are making you YouTube famous” and then a screen grab of his Facebook where a sexual photo of her was posted.
Ward was arrested this weekend.
Another Seminole County man, Charles Guy, was arrested for the same charge in December.
If either men are convicted, the maximum time they’ll spend in prison is a year.
Because it’s not considered a sex crime to post revenge porn, the men will not have to register as sex offenders.
“The challenge with prosecuting any new statute is, does the conduct define all the elements it takes to get a conviction?” Sheaffer said.
Ward is being held in jail without bond because he was not supposed to have contact with the woman at all after his domestic violence arrest.
He is expected in court for an arraignment in February.
WFTV
