Posting and sharing sexy videos or images has become a common practice, especially for people in a relationship. Provided that the people in the image or video that you share are over the age of 18, you probably assumed that you won’t break the law with a simple post or shared image.
However, whether you upload it to a website or text it to a friend, an intimate image you don’t have permission to share could lead to criminal charges. Under Maryland law, people who share intimate or nude images or videos of another person without their explicit consent break the law by doing so.
Maryland has strict laws to protect people’s privacy
When someone shares an image that they took of a partner or that someone shared with them privately, they violate that person’s trust. Intimate images and video could cost someone their job or their family.
No matter how angry you are at the other person, you need to keep a cool head and remember that what they share with you with the expectation of privacy is not yours to disclose or share with others. If you forward those images to others, upload them to websites or otherwise distribute them, you could be charged with “revenge porn.”
What’s the penalty for sharing revenge porn?
The current law in Maryland makes such actions misdemeanor offenses. If you plead guilty or are convicted, you could face up to 10 years in prison or be fined up to $10,000 — possibly both. The law also penalizes threatening someone with the release of intimate images or photos. As with any other sex crime, a rigorous defense is necessary if you want to avoid a criminal record that could haunt you for life.