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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Jordan man has been charged under Utah's new "revenge porn" statute.
The man, 37, was charged July 30 in 3rd District Court with unlawful distribution of an intimate image, a class A misdemeanor.
On March 18, the man showed an acquaintance several nude photos and a video of a woman he used to date, according to charging documents. When the two broke up, the woman had asked the defendant to delete all the images.
The acquaintance also told the man he should erase the images. The man said he didn't want to erase them "in case he needs blackmail material," the charges state.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1.
In 2014, Gov. Gary Herbert signed House Bill 71 into law, which was commonly referred to as the revenge porn bill. The law addressed the issue of intimate photos or videos taken by couples, with or without consent, and later distributed without consent or used by one party in a threatening manner either during or after the relationship has ended.
Under the law, a first offense is a class A misdemeanor, and each subsequent offense can be charged as a third-degree felony.
In March, a man who pleaded guilty in a case that was the springboard for lawmakers to revise the revenge porn laws in the state was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Thirteen states, including Utah, have passed revenge porn laws in the past two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
