Meet 31 y/o Benjamin Barber. That;s him below…
Ben has the distinction of being the first person to serve jail time in Oregon under the State’s “Revenge Porn” law (in 2015, Oregon passed a law making the “unlawful dissemination of an intimate image” illegal and targeting people who publish explicit images of others online without permission, including “upskirt” or other intimate photos of an ex-partner, typically known as “revenge porn”).
Ben was found guilty by an OR jury of uploading sexually explicit videos of a woman (his ex-girlfriend) onto nine (9) different porn websites without her consent and has been sentenced to serve six (6) months in jail, followed by five (5) years probation and with the special conditions that he have no contact with the victim, that he destroy all intimate images that he has of her and that he not use any computer for any reason except work for the duration of his probation.
In his defense Ben argued that he had uploaded the videos in April, 2016 (along with other data on a personal server) because he was contemplating suicide at the time and wanted to “memorialize all the things I had done.” His lawyer reportedly claimed that Ben believed that he owned the copyright to the videos that and that he had the legal authority to publish them and that the woman had no right to privacy. But it was an irrefutable fact that although the videos were taken while the two were a couple, they were no longer together when the videos were unilaterally uploaded without consent from both participants. And so it was that Ben was convicted of five (5) counts of “unlawful dissemination of an intimate image”.
As of today thirty-five (35) States and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of “revenge porn” law. Florida law makes it a crime (a 1st degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail) to post sexually explicit photos of another without their consent. It matters not whether the photos were taken and possessed freely, voluntarily, and with consent; what matters is a lack of consent to publish the images (as Florida law holds that someone who agrees to have such a sexually explicit photograph taken maintains “a reasonable expectation the image will remain private”). Florida’s “revenge porn” law makes it a 1st degree misdemeanor to post explicit pictures of someone else without their permission. “Revenge porn” falls under the category of sexual harassment and is defined as the “online posting of explicit photos of people without their permission”. F.S. 784.049 defines “Sexually cyberharass” as meaning “to publish a sexually explicit image of a person that contains or conveys the personal identification information of the depicted person to an internet website without the depicted person’s consent, for no legitimate purpose, with the intent of causing substantial emotional distress to the depicted person.”
Memo to the Folks: Apart from being turned in by a victim for a cyber crime you can count on the fact that prosecutors can and do scour the internet looking for any incriminating information which they can use against you in any pending criminal case. Thus Haber’s Social Media Rule #5: If it’s even remotely relevant to a pending charge then prosecutors will cram your social media posts, and history (sites visited, searches made, etc) down your throat in court. Watch HaberPA’s YouTube VideoFAQ / Webisode on Social Media and the Law, including “Haber’s Rules of Social Media # 1 – 5” by clicking on the link below…
Social Media: It’s all fun and nice until it’s introduced into evidence against you in Court (see “Haber’s Rules of Social Media # 1 – 5” by clicking here).
At Michael A. Haber, P.A. “Its all about reasonable doubt”!
Michael A. Haber, Esq. is prepared to speak with you about your case!
Cell: 305-798-2220; Office: 305-381-8686; Toll Free: 1-888-SHARK-8-1
@Sharky910 / www.criminallaw.miami / www.haberpa.com / www.facebook.com/haberpa /
https://www.youtube.com/c/michaelhaberlaw / http://habercriminallaw.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/michaelhaberlaw / http://habercriminallaw.blogspot.com
LIKE www.facebook.com/haberpa ~ FOLLOW http://habercriminallaw.blogspot.com ~ SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/c/michaelhaberlaw ~ SEE www.criminallaw.miami ~ CALL 1-888-SHARK-8-1
THIS BLOG POST (AS ARE ALL OF HABERPA BLOG POSTS) IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH IS PRIMARILY DESIGNED, BY WAY OF REAL WORLD EXAMPLE, TO ASSIST THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN AVOIDING CONDUCT WHICH COULD FORESEEABLY RESULT IN ARREST AND PROSECUTION!
#Webisode #YouTube #VideoFAQ #AVVO #HaberPA #Arrest #Arrested #CriminalLaw #CriminalDefense #SocialMedia #CriminalDefenseLawyer #MiamiCriminalDefenseLawyer #CriminalDefenseAttorney #MiamiCriminalDefenseAttorney #CriminalAttorney #DUI #DWI #DrivingUnderTheInfluence #BUI #BoatingUnderTheInfluence #DomesticViolence #DV #DVRO #DomesticViolenceRestrainingOrder #Seal #Expunge #Sealing #Expungement #CriminalRecord #CriminalHistory #PSA #PublicServiceAnnouncement #SocialMediaFAIL! #FAIL! #Facebook #RevengePorn #CyberHarassment #SexualCyberHarassment #CyberCrime #Stalking #SexualCyberStalking #DV #DVRO #DomesticViolenceRestrainignOrder #StayAwayOrder #ThinkBeforeYouPost
Posted in Uncategorized
-
Top notch, very skilled, and highly attentive. Mr. Haber is a fantastic criminal defense attorney. 
- Thanks again. You are second to none when it comes to defending your clients. For that, I thank you
-
