ARLINGTON, Va. — It’s been one year since a woman from Arlington came forward with her story about being a victim of revenge porn. Despite hurdles to seek justice, she’s pleased Virginia legislators changed the law to give other victims a fighting chance.
The victim, who only wanted to be identified as Marie, said she’s finally able to trust again. She’s in the process of getting married and relocating to Maryland more than a year after a judge in Loudoun County dismissed the case against her ex-boyfriend.
Marie said he uploaded a video of her having sex to a porn website without her permission. She never got justice because by the time she found out in 2020, the statute of limitations for the misdemeanor case had passed by nine months.
Loudoun County prosecutor Cedric Moon raised questions about the statute of limitations last year. During this legislative session, Del. Irene Shin (D-Fairfax County), introduced a bill to amend the law, but also expand the definition of the content covered by the law to go beyond images of a nude person.
Starting in July, you can prosecute someone within five years of the offense or within one year of the victim finding out about the unlawful distribution of images.
“You have more time to bring some sort of action against the person who horribly committed the act of revenge porn against you,” Moon said. “I think the accountability would be seen as favorable by anybody of any political stripe.”
Both chambers approved the bill with Gov. Glenn Youngkin signing it into law in April.
“It's fantastic,” Marie told WUSA9. “I'm so glad the law has been changed and I think it's really important to have it. I guess I'm a little bit more cautious but at the same time you can't live with a closed-off spirit.”
In her case, the motion to dismiss by the defense not only cited statute of limitations, but argued there were delays in the case that would have prevented a speedy trial.
A judge in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court also ruled the warrant against the ex-boyfriend was filed in the wrong court.
“In other words, the matter languished for almost two years in a court had no jurisdiction and the Commonwealth did nothing to correct that or to pursue the case,” a memorandum filed in August said.
The defense also blamed the delay on how long it took to serve the arrest warrant. It was obtained in September 2020 but was not served until March 2022.
In a motion filed by the Commonwealth responding to the motion to dismiss, Moon said a Loudoun County deputy attempted to serve the warrant to the suspect multiple times.
“As noted in the policy report, as of Dec. 4, 2020, the defendant refused all attempts to meet with Deputy Lewis or turn himself in on the active warrant,” the court document read.
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