HARRISBURG, July 1, 2014 – The proposal that would make it a crime to publish unapproved, sexually explicit pictures of a former partner moved one step closer to becoming law today when the Pennsylvania Senate agreed to return an amended version of the bill to the House for final consideration, state Sen. Judy Schwank said today.
House Bill 2107 now represents a beefed up compromise between Sen. Schwank’s original proposal, Senate Bill 1167, and Rep. Thomas Murt’s (R-Montgomery County) legislation.
“Senate Bill 1167 put Pennsylvania in the vanguard of states addressing this new form of assault perpetrated overwhelmingly on women,” Schwank said during floor debate. “There are people who don’t appreciate how harmful these acts are to the victims. They are devastating. And, to make things worse, they have no expiration date. Nothing ever disappears from the internet.”
HB 2107, which targets what has been called “revenge porn,” would mean people who publicly post sexual images of their partners to annoy and harm them would commit a crime that carries potential penalties of up to two years in jail when an adult is the victim and up to five years when the victim is a minor.
Sen. Schwank said offenders would also be financially responsible for the injuries they cause their victims, through civil suit, and concurrent jurisdiction in district attorney offices and the state attorney general will ensure that there are appropriate resources to prosecute.
“Revenge porn is an unfortunate and misleading term because it suggests that the victims are complicit in the public viewing of the images,” the senator said. “To think the victim is somehow deserving of the consequences is as false as the belief so many used to have that victims of domestic violence oftentimes deserved the abuse inflicted on them.”
HB 2107 has the support of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys’ Association, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, and the Women’s Law Project.
“We believe this proposal satisfies First Amendment concerns that have troubled proposals in other states,” Schwank said.
Currently in Pennsylvania, harassment law only requires the prosecution of an offender if he or she uses a drawing or caricature to embarrass someone. The use of photographic images, unless repeatedly published, is not covered by current statute.
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