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Ohio falls short protecting victims of 'Revenge Porn'

Posted at 5:59 PM, Jul 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-10 17:59:30-04

A judge ordered Rob Kardashian to keep away from his former fiancee Blac Chyna after he leaked her nude photos. But it doesn't stop there, Chyna is seeking further legal action under California's revenge porn law. 

They were the Instagram posts seen around the world. An act of spite that might leave the youngest Kardashian, Robert, in legal trouble. "I was devastated of course I'm like how could somebody post these pictures of me. I'm like wow," said Blac Chyna.

In an exclusive interview with ABC, Kardashian's former fiancee Blac Chyna said she felt betrayed.

"This is a person I trusted and confided in and felt comfortable sending these pictures," she said.

Chyna now says she hopes her speaking out on this matter will inspire others to do the same, but here in Ohio victims of revenge porn don't have the same protections as victims in 38 other states.

"It is a fairly new phenomenon so a lot of states are still catching up with things," said Aaron Minc, an attorney at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis. Minc has handled several revenge porn cases. "The quintessential case is where an ex gets angry and upset with someone they had a relationship with and out of revenge and malice they go and post photos of them," said Minc.

And while there is no law on the books criminalizing revenge porn, Minc says victims can seek protection under other laws targeting child porn, voyeurism and harassment.  

"But civilly you can go and get a civil restraining order, there are also civil remedies like intrusion upon seclusion." It is a form of an invasion of privacy, which Minc says can have a lasting emotional and psychological effect on a person.

"I've seen revenge porn destroy marriages, I've seen it destroy careers. It has caused people to drop out of school. It has ruined people's lives" said Minc.