Ex-fiancée who shared photos to prove Illinois man’s affair convicted of revenge porn
.JPG "Bethany Austin was convicted of “revenge porn” after she shared nude photos another woman sent to her fiancé to prove he was cheating, Illinois officials say. File photo")
An Illinois woman was convicted of “revenge porn” after sharing nude photos of another woman to prove her ex-fiancé was cheating, reports say.
Bethany Austin, 43, discovered her boyfriend of seven years was cheating with a neighbor when text messages and nude photos from the woman appeared on her iPad, officials say. The couple shared an iCloud account, which meant his iPhone messages went to her tablet.
After canceling plans for a wedding and breaking up, her ex-fiancé told his friends and family that Austin was “crazy” and “no longer cooked or did household chores,” according to court documents.
Austin shared her side of the story in a letter to his friends and family, which included four naked photos the woman sent to the ex-fiancé, the documents say.
When her ex-boyfriend learned of the letter, officials say he turned Austin in to police and she was charged in 2016 with non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images, the Illinois law banning “revenge porn.”
A judge in McHenry County dismissed the charge in 2018, saying it violated free speech rights, but prosecutors appealed the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court, which remanded the case to the lower court in 2019.
On Monday, Austin was found guilty of the felony charge, which carries a possible prison sentence of three years, the Daily Herald reported.
“The state apparently thinks that (Austin) has to sit by and not let anybody know what he was doing to her,” her attorney Wayne Giampietro said during closing arguments, the newspaper reported.
Judge Michael Coppedge said Austin’s letter was understandable but the photos violated the woman’s privacy, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“It is wrong because exposing a person’s body against her will fundamentally denies that person of their right to privacy,” he said, the newspaper reported.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Ex-fiancée who shared photos to prove Illinois man’s affair convicted of revenge porn."