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Maryland Criminal Defense: Defending Charges of Revenge Porn


If you have been charged with the crime of revenge porn, you will need experienced Maryland criminal defense attorneys to craft your best legal defense. This is true for several reasons. First, the crime is an emotional one — a form of sex crime. The emotions can get particularly heated if the defendant is male and the alleged victim is female. Judges and juries tend to want to “do justice” for the victims and harshly punish the wrongdoers. You are going to need a good Maryland criminal defense even if you are innocent.

Second, likely, you are being charged with multiple counts of revenge porn based on each time you allegedly uploaded or distributed the images or video. Back in 2021, the Mayor of Cambridge, MD, was charged with 50 counts of distributing revenge porn on Reddit. He was charged for each upload. For each count, potential punishments include jail time of up to 2 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5000.

Third, as part of the investigation, law enforcement officials seized all of your computers and electronic devices, even ones that might have nothing to do with the alleged crimes even though you need your computers and devices to function in today’s world.

The Maryland criminal statute that criminalizes revenge porn is Md. Criminal Law Code 3-809 which makes it a crime to

Knowingly distribute a visual representation of another identifiable person that displays the other person with his or her intimate parts exposed or while engaged in an act of sexual activity:

(1) with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the other person;

(2) (i) under circumstances in which the person knew that the other person did not consent to the distribution; or (ii) with reckless disregard as to whether the person consented to the distribution; AND

(3) under circumstances in which the other person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private.

From this legal definition of the crime, we can determine several potential defenses to the charge or charges. These include:

  • There was no “distribution”
  • Even if there was distribution, it was not “knowing”
  • The image does not depict an “identifiable person”
  • There was no intent to cause harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the person
  • There was consent
  • There was no “reasonable expectation” that the images would remain private
  • And more

If you have been charged with revenge porn, call us here at the Law Office of Robert Castro. Our number is (301) 705-5137. We are available around the clock, 24/7.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer at (301) 705-5137. We are Waldorf, MD, Criminal Defense lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.

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