Suffolk Pol to Draft State 'Revenge Porn' Ban

State Sen. Phil Boyle, R-Bay Shore, is readying legislation to outlaw "revenge porn," and is primed for battle with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Revenge porn is the Internet posting of nude and sexual explicit photos and videos with the intention to cause public humiliation and emotional harm and is typically accompanied with personal information.

In a statement released Thursday, Boyle noted several incidents nationwide. One involved a Florida woman’s ex-boyfriend putting her nude photos on 200 websites along with her phone number and address. In Texas, an 18-year old’s ex-fiancé posted her nude photos on a website and the action led to her being stalked and having to quit her job.

While Boyle could not provide any specific numbers regarding revenge porn incidents in his district, he told Patch in a phone interview Friday he believes it’s happening more often and that he is certain women, as well as some men, on Long Island have had to deal with such incidents.

“I have no doubt there are victims and there’ll be more victims given the increasing use of social media. I think New York should be at the forefront of getting such legislation in place,” he told Patch.

His proposed bill would make revenge porn activity a class A misdemeanor with a potential one-year jail sentence and $1,000 fine.

California is actually at the forefront in passing such legislation, with Governor Jerry Brown signing the first-ever revenge porn bill in the nation on Wednesday. California’s law stipulates a six-month jail sentence and a $1,000 fine upon conviction.

The legislation did not get approved without objection as civil liberties groups voiced opposition, according to Imperial Beach Patch. A revenge porn bill in Florida has been pulled from rule making process due to opposition, noted Boyle, and New Jersey is working on similar law making.

Boyle expects much greater opposition and a fierce battle with New York civil liberties groups but expects to be victorious.

“I think it’s a constitutional bill and the damage caused by revenge porn activities outweighs any privacy concerns,” he said.

“I expect a bigger fight [than what California Senator Anthony Cannella faced] but I will fight hard to get this into law,” he said.

A call to the New York Civil Liberties Union was not immediately returned.

Boyle’s law is a bit more expansive than California’s bill as it includes the use of ‘selfie’ images that are taken by a person and then distributed with malicious intent by another party.

“I think a great majority, about 80%, of the images distributed as revenge porn are the selfie pictures people take and share with someone so the law would include those images,” he explained.

Boyle told Patch states need to enact revenge porn bills even though he does believe it's a federal issue given it involves the Internet and something Congress should be handling.

"Congress obviously has other things on their agenda right now," he said.