House Passes Bills To Punish 'Revenge Porn' In Criminal, Civil Courts

Two bills penalizing those who share intimate or pornographic images without a person’s consent cleared the Indiana House.

The two measures create penalties in both criminal and civil court.

There’s nothing in Indiana law to punish what’s commonly referred to as “revenge porn,” distribution of pornographic images or videos without someone’s consent. Rep. Mike Speedy’s (R-Indianapolis) bill makes it a Class A misdemeanor to do so and a Level 6 felony if an offender does it more than once. Speedy points to the recent case of a Hamilton County teacher.

“Formerly married woman whose ex-husband distributed images throughout the community and the police were wanting to help her but couldn’t,” Speedy says.

Rep. Sharon Negele’s (R-Attica) bill creates monetary penalties, in civil court, for revenge porn.

“And this is one tool in the tool chest to hopefully stop some of these problems that are occurring in our society,” Negele says.

Both measures head back to the Senate.