On Friday, a 28-year-old Carson City, Nev. resident named Ivan Botello was arrested for “arranging to have revenge porn posted online.” However, the act of revenge porn was not his crime; it was that the woman in the photos he was arranging to revenge-post, who is his ex-girlfriend, was 16 at the time they were taken. According to Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong:
She consented to the pictures at the time he took them, but after their relationship had gone bad, he continued to harass her.
Nevada does not currently have laws in place that criminalize revenge porn. However, California has made efforts to crack down on revenge porn by attempting to pass a bill that would make the dissemination of nude photos “with the intent to cause serious emotional distress” illegal.
Revenge porn is now an extension of cyberbullying, and more people are voicing their concerns. Florida activist Holly Jacobs started End Revenge Porn to bring attention to this troubling trend—showcased on the now-shuttered revenge porn sites Is Anyone Up? and Is Anybody Down?—and offer victims a support group.
That Botello was arrested and Carson City police acknowledged revenge porn exists is a step forward, but Nevada, and other states, still have a ways to go in making it a crime. Many people still think of it as harmless “entertainment.”
Botello is apparently also on probation for another case: Having sex with a girl younger than 16.
Photo via Mr. Kevino/Flickr
