First person sentenced under Ore.'s revenge porn law
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A 31-year-old man became the first individual to be prosecuted and sentenced under Oregon’s new revenge porn law, authorities say, CBS affiliate KOIN reports.
Benjamin J. Barber was sentenced on Thursday morning, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. He received 6 months in jail and 5 years of probation.
In July, Barber was arrested for posting several pornographic videos of himself and a person he had once been in an intimate relationship with. When that relationship ended, Barber uploaded the videos to several adult websites without permission, authorities said.
Barber was convicted of five counts of unlawful dissemination of an intimate image, Oregon’s new revenge porn law.
KOIN 6 News spoke with Barber and asked how he expects to be perceived in the wake of his conviction.
“I understand people are going to think I look creepy,” Barber said. “I have this blown out eye.”
He continued, “Well okay, so if I go saying that I want to make porn, get paid for making porn and then complain that the porn I asked people to pay me for is then public, do I have a right to be embarrassed?”
Barber told KOIN 6 News the videos were copyrighted porn videos, and he has the right to post them wherever he wants.
“There was a lot of evidence that was not included in the testimony, specifically like the fact that we were both advertising to produce porn commercially,” said Barber.
Barber said he’s the victim, and the woman he shared videos of tried to use them against him as blackmail.
Sgt. Bob Ray with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office explained the law.
“If you use the internet with the intent to harass or embarrass or basically demand someone, and there is sexually explicit material, and you can identify the other person who has not given their consent, that’s essentially the threshold. If a person does that, they are essentially violating the law. even just posting it on Facebook. Yes, even if the video was taken consensually,” Ray said.
