What is a revenge porn crime in Minnesota?
Revenge porn refers to posting sexual images online without consent, with intent to injure that person’s privacy, name, or security. And here, Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney Thomas C. Gallagher explains:
In recent years States around the U.S.A. have enacted various criminal statutes. But courts have struck down some of these new laws as unconstitutional.
And Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney, Thomas Gallagher has challenged the constitutionality of Minnesota Statute 617.261.
But each time a court strikes down one of these laws; another legislature somewhere drafts a newer version to limit it. So, these legislatures hope to satisfy the courts that the new version does not go too far.
They hope that the next generation law can withstand Constitutional scrutiny. But the cycle repeats. And over time, these developments result in a complicated revenge porn law.
Laws, and more laws: Minnesota revenge porn attorney Guide
Minnesota Statute 617.261 is Minnesota’s main revenge porn law.
But other Minnesota laws exist that prosecutors can also use to prosecute.
And Minnesota revenge porn attorneys can use these other laws to defend.
Minnesota’s Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images law
In Minnesota, the main “revenge porn” statute is Minnesota Statutes §617.261 (2016), “NONCONSENSUAL DISSEMINATION OF PRIVATE SEXUAL IMAGES.”
Subdivision 1 begins to define the crime:
“Subdivision 1. Crime. It is a crime to intentionally disseminate an image of another person who is depicted in a sexual act or whose intimate parts are exposed, in whole or in part, when:
Minnesota Statutes §617.26
(1) the person is identifiable:
(i) from the image itself, by the person depicted in the image or by another person; or
(ii) from personal information displayed in connection with the image;
(2) the actor knows or reasonably should know that the person depicted in the image does not consent to the dissemination; and
(3) the image was obtained or created under circumstances in which the actor knew or reasonably should have known the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
Intentional dissemination to a third-party required
The law requires that the defendant intentionally disseminated to third-parties.
“Sexting:” Sending an image of one of the two parties, to the other party is not dissemination to a third-party.
Defense: If the recipient shows the image to others; that is not evidence of the sender intentionally disseminating to a third-party. And Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney Thomas Gallagher has successfully defended cases on those facts, with this defense.
Image must be identifiable as a specific person
The image must be identifiable as a specific person. But if not identifiable as a specific person, there is no defamatory effect and no crime under this statute.
Nonconsensual
Even if there was dissemination to third-parties, if the subject or model consented to it, there is no crime. So, the prosecutor must come up with proof that the subject did not consent.
Knowing invasion of reasonable expectation of privacy
In addition, the law requires a knowing invasion of a reasonable expectation of privacy to get the image. And this requirement contains two significant parts.
First, the accused must have known about the model’s reasonable expectation.
Second, the model must have actually had a reasonable expectation. So, a good Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney dissects evidence of reasonable expectations.
Content-based restrictions on speech
The image must be “of another person.” And the image must either depict a sexual act or expose “intimate parts” of another person.
Subdivision 7 (e) defines “Intimate parts:”
“‘Intimate parts’ means the genitals, pubic area, or anus of an individual, or if the individual is female, a partially or fully exposed nipple.“
But sometimes a prosecutor’s claim that an area of the body is an “intimate part,” does not fit the definition. The hip area or buttocks may not be “intimate parts,” for example.
And the statute’s limiting criminality based on gender seems to be blatant gender-discrimination and violation of constitutional principles of equality.
Laws with content-based restrictions on speech discriminate against speech based on the substance.
But, a content-neutral law applies to expression no matter what its substance.
The Supreme Court may strike down laws that discriminate on the basis of expression. Minnesota Statute 617.261 is relatively new. Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney Gallagher views it is an unconstitutional, content-based restriction on speech.
Consent is a defense, after all: Minnesota revenge porn attorney
Another problem with this statute is Subdivision 3, which boldly asserts:
“No defense. It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that the person consented to the capture or possession of the image.“
But that directly contradicts another part of the law. Subdivision 3 contradicts the elements of the crime definition in Subdivision 1:
“(3) the image was obtained or created under circumstances in which the actor knew or reasonably should have known the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
So, the prosecution must have evidence to prove that “the actor knew or reasonably should have known…” and that the “person depicted [actually] had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
That means, of course, that consent is a defense if “the person depicted consented to the capture or possession of the image.”
And we resolve conflicts in criminal laws in favor of the defendant, under statutory construction rules.
So, an experienced Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney must both know the law; and how to persuade the judge and jury, with the law.
Related laws, remedies and legal procedures
Not every case fits the “revenge porn” prototype.
So, the law does not require a revenge motive, for example.
And prosecutors charge many different types of cases under these laws. Beyond the most specific law, Minnesota Statute 617.261, prosecutors use other laws as well.
These include different criminal and civil statutes including Harassment, Stalking, Obscenity, Privacy and Coercion-Extortion. So, a person facing one of these charges needs a good Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney who knows these laws well.
Harassment and Stalking
Minnesota Statutes §609.748 HARASSMENT; RESTRAINING ORDER is a civil remedy statute proving for a procedure to ask the court for a Harassment Restraining Order. It specifically references “a single incident of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images under section 617.261.” But it is broader, inclusive of many forms of harassment.
Minnesota Statutes §609.749 STALKING is a criminal statute. Courts often call it “Harassment-Stalking.” Prosecutors use this law in situations that fit the “revenge porn” prototype. And they use it in other situations as well.
Obscenity
Minnesota Statutes §617.241 OBSCENE MATERIALS AND PERFORMANCES, is another criminal statute. Prosecutors can use this statute to charge a crime for knowingly exhibiting, publishing, distributing or attempting to distribute obscene material.
Privacy
Minnesota Statutes §609.746 INTERFERENCE WITH PRIVACY, is a criminal statute. Prosecutors can use it to charge peeping cases; as well as a person who “surreptitiously installs or uses any device for observing, photographing, recording” a “place where a reasonable person would have an expectation of privacy and … likely to expose their intimate parts.”
Coercion and Extortion
Minnesota Statutes §609.27 COERCION is also a criminal statute. Prosecutors can use it in a blackmail or extortion fact-pattern.
It specifically refers to Minnesota Statutes §617.261 “NONCONSENSUAL DISSEMINATION OF PRIVATE SEXUAL IMAGES;” and is a lesser-included offense. So, see our separate page here about the Minnesota Coercion law.
Defending dissemination of private sexual images cases
Years of defending clients charged with these crimes reveal two categories of defenses. Many defenses and defense efforts apply to every type of criminal case. And as you can see from this discussion, we also have many defenses specific to this type of case.
Why Minnesota revenge porn attorney Thomas C. Gallagher
If you are facing one of these criminal charges, you need to know the law. But more importantly, you need a good Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney who knows the law inside and out. Defense Attorney Thomas C. Gallagher can help.
Question? You can call Minnesota Revenge Porn Attorney Thomas C. Gallagher at 612 333-1500