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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, Mar. 23, (CMC) – A High Court has awarded a couple EC$500,000 (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) in damages, after their private, sex video tape was released to the public by police.
Justice Lorraine Williams said, the police officers, who leaked the sex video, had breached the claimants’ constitutional rights. In the video, the female’s face was exposed while only the lower body of the male was visible.
The unidentified woman was awarded EC$350,000, while the man has been awarded EC$150,000.
The court heard, in December last year, that the man had been arrested in 2013 on suspicion of robbery. But while he was in custody, the officers took the memory chip out of his phone, viewed its content on an office computer, and came across the video of the suspect and his girlfriend engaging in sexual acts. They are reported to have downloaded the material to their phones and disseminated it to the public.
The video was also posted on social media websites and the couple filed a constitutional motion against the state in November 2013.
Justice Williams, on Monday, condemned the actions of the police, pointing out that they are servants of the state, charged with protecting the rights of individuals.
Meanwhile, attorney, Angelina Gracy Sookoo, who represented the couple, told WINN FM radio that, too often, society places blame on the wrong person and that her client was not at fault.
She said, her client was largely condemned by society for having made the sex video in the first place, and even her children were harassed.
The attorney said, this is in no way any form of encouragement for other females to make sex tapes, and warned of the long-lasting emotional and psychological effects it could have on, not just on women, but their families, if the videos end up in the public domain.
