Warning: Graphic content A Vancouver Island man will serve up to six months in jail for sharing intimate videos of his former partner after their brief romantic relationship soured and she refused to see him anymore. The six-month jail term was handed down in a Nanaimo, B.C., courtroom after the accused pleaded guilty to knowingly distributing intimate images of the victim without her consent, a crime colloquially referred to as “revenge porn.” Provincial court Judge Christina Proteau also barred the offender—identified in the court decision as “C.L.M.” or “Mr. M.”—from accessing the internet or possessing any device capable of accessing the internet for 18 months upon his release. The probation order also prohibits Mr. M from having any contact with the victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban. “The sentence I impose must adequately denounce and deter other former intimate partners from breaching the trust placed with them by their former partners,” the judge wrote in her Aug. 11 decision after Mr. M’s defence lawyer sought a sentence of house arrest, followed by probation. “In my view, a sentence served in the community by way of a conditional sentence order would not adequately address the fundamental purpose and principles of sentencing, given the number and substance of the aggravating factors in this case,” the decision said. Victim reported threats to RCMP An agreed statement of facts in the case detailed how, in June 2023, the victim went to the Nanaimo RCMP to report that Mr. M was threatening to distribute intimate images and videos of her on the internet. By then, the couple had not been together for roughly two years. Mr. M had sent the woman a link to one of the videos, which she had entrusted to him while they were still in a relationship, the court heard. While her face was not visible in the video, Mr. M had inserted a picture of her face in the corner of the video. The offender also sent the victim an audio recording via the encrypted Signal app. “Do you really want your friends and family and co-workers to see you and hear you in your, in your most personal moments?” the voice said, according to the decision. “Is it really worth it to come after me for doing f--king nothing to you? Is that worth it? Cause that’s what’s gonna f--king happen, and worse.” Seven days later, the victim again contacted the Nanaimo RCMP, this time to report that Mr. M had followed through on his threat to distribute images of her. According to the decision, Mr. M had published three videos of the former couple having sex on a fetish website. “One of the videos showed the victim’s face,” according to the agreed statement of facts. “The victim could easily identify herself in all of the videos.” ‘I’m going to post everything’ The victim provided screenshots of the videos to the RCMP, as well as a message she had received that day from Mr. M. “Okay, I guess instead of trying to talk to you I’ll just put my energy into video distribution,” he had written. Roughly two weeks later, the victim and her brother saw a screenshot that appeared to be a Facebook page, created under the alias “Don Johnson,” that was apparently publishing more nude images of the victim. The screenshot, it would turn out, was an image created by Mr. M to look like a real Facebook page that was distributing the images, however the images were never actually published on the social network. The victim’s brother contacted the “Don Johnson” alias account via the comments on a non-intimate picture of his sister with Mr. M and had a brief conversation, during which Mr. M wrote: “I’m going to post everything now.” ‘He broke that trust’ In a victim impact statement provided to the court before sentencing, the woman described how she has lived in a “constant state of anxiety” since the images were published, saying she has been unable to properly eat or sleep. “She has experienced panic attacks,” the judge wrote, summarizing the statement, which went on to describe how the incident affected the victim’s ability to raise her child. “She writes about being unable to enjoy her child’s kindergarten graduation, being paranoid instead of what other parents were thinking of her,” the judge continued. “She described the overall incident as humiliating. She had put trust in Mr. M. and he broke that trust.” The court heard that Mr. M has four prior criminal convictions. In 2021, he was sentenced to 44 days in jail, plus 18 months probation, for breach of an undertaking and extortion of a former intimate partner. In January 2025, he was handed a one-day jail sentence followed by 12 months of probation for mischief under $5,000 and of breach of undertaking. Moderate risk to reoffend A pre-sentencing report found Mr. M experienced significant trauma growing up, including physical abuse by his mother and sexual abuse by an aunt. He has also been diagnosed with ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder. “Mr. M. presents as a moderate risk for future general and violence reoffending,” according to a psychological report provided to the judge. “His future risk of intimate partner violence is in the low to moderate range.” The judge identified numerous aggravating factors in the case, including Mr. M’s previous conviction for extorting an intimate partner, as well as the significant degree of effort required to plan and edit the videos and fake screenshots “in the spirit of trying to frighten the victim.” Mitigating factors included Mr. M.’s guilty plea, which spared the victim from testifying, and his expression of remorse in the courtroom. As part of the sentence, the judge ordered Mr. M to provide DNA samples while in custody, however he will not have to register his personal information with the National Sex Offender Registry. If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
