Man Charged For Posting Nude Photos Online Of Ex-Lover In Grenada

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, August 30, 2018 (CMC) – A 25-year-old man became the first person to be charged for violating a section of the Electronic Crimes Act, when he appeared in court, earlier this week.

Yurber Phillip was charged with Violation of Privacy, under the Electronic Crimes Act, based on allegations that he published nude photos of a female person, via a social media website. 

Police confirmed that the female and Phillp had an intimate relationship.

The matter that was reported to the South St. George’s Police Station, was also investigated by officers of that station and the Director of Public Prosecution gave guidance in laying the charges.

Section 10 (1) of the Electronic Crimes Act, which speaks to Violation of Privacy, states that, “a person who, knowingly or without lawful excuse or justification, captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of a person, without his or her consent, under circumstances violating the privacy of that person, commits an offence and is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine, not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, or to a term of imprisonment, not exceeding three years, or to both.”

The Bill itself was approved in both houses of Parliament in 2013, as one in five electronic legislation, aimed at providing guidance to the Police and the judiciary to deal with criminal matters, committed using electronic and technological devices.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Trevor Modeste, said the Electronic Crimes Act is designed to protect the rights and privacy of individuals in this increasingly technological era.

Modeste said  the provisions of the Electronic Crimes Act are clear, and he added, he wants persons to become familiar with these provisions.

“Ignorance of the law will not be accepted as an excuse. Violation of privacy is one of the offences identified in the legislation, and as such, citizens must refrain from violating the rights of other persons, when they record and share images of others, specifically images that depict an individual’s private area,” he said, while explaining that the law refers to the genitals, whether naked or covered by undergarments, as the pubic area, the buttocks or the female breast.

Phillip has to return to court on October 5.