Sask. court awards $160K in first civil 'revenge porn' case

A Saskatchewan woman has been awarded $160,000 after she successfully sued a former partner for sharing intimate images of her online.

The woman’s name cannot be released due to a publication ban. However, her former partner Daylan Heidel already pleaded guilty to sharing images of the woman, and other women without their consent between January 2015 and July 2019.

He was sentenced to jail time on criminal charges.

Heidel distributed images and videos of the plaintiff on pornographic websites such as Pornhub, actions which the victim called in her claim "highly invasive, degrading and morally damaging."

In 2018, the Saskatchewan government changed the province's privacy act to allow victims of "revenge porn," the act of sharing intimate images without consent, to sue for compensation.

The legislation intended to allow victims to seek reimbursement through small claims court.

Her lawyer in the case, Sean Sinclair, said this was the first successful case of its kind in the province.

“This appears to be the first decision that involves the non-consensual distribution of intimate images or videos like this where a person has been successfully sued for distributing materials online in this manner,” he told CTV News.

“This tells people that there are significant repercussions to acting in this manner that you can, first of all, be incarcerated for it. But in addition to that, also be sued for it. And for quite a lot of money, potentially. It is a serious offence. It has lasting implications for the victim,” Sinclair said.

“I think it also has a message for victims that the court systems have a means of potentially addressing these kinds of issues and will give victims a voice to address these matters. And hopefully, allow them some measure of redress even if it doesn't fix all the issues for them.”

Sinclair said his client demonstrated resilience and courage by bringing her case forward.

“It's very hard to speak about and certainly to speak about publicly, in a court hearing is very challenging,” he said. “She's been quite remarkable in how she's approached this.”

-with files from Saron Fanel