Strangers who shared woman’s nude photos jailed, fined $65k, ordered to pay her $29k

Two strangers brought together by their anger towards a woman were each jailed for 9.5 months, fined EC$65,000 and ordered to pay EC$29,000 in compensation for defaming her on Facebook and distributing nude photos of her on WhatsApp.

Senior Magistrate Tammika Mc Kenzie handed down the sentences on Zarrieta Zavisha Wilson, 34, of Ottley Hall, and Reno Roberts, 27, of Georgetown, at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, three weeks after they pleaded guilty to charges under the Cybercrime Act.

Wilson, who told the court she is pregnant, pleaded guilty to charges of using a computer system to distribute sexually explicit images of the virtual complainant (VC) that contain the personal identification information of the VC and transmitting and distributing the said images on WhatsApp.

She further pleaded guilty to a charge that she published defamatory comments of the VC to wit “Any man want p***y to buy go [place] and ask for [name] that b***h love f***”.

Wilson committed the offences at Ottley Hall on Oct. 10.

Roberts pleaded guilty to charges that on Oct. 10 on WhatsApp and Facebook, respectively, he intentionally and without lawful excuse or justification and without the consent of the VC, used a computer system to transmit sexually explicit images of the VC that contained the personal identification information of the VC.

The facts of the case are that the VC was at work when Wilson approached her and accused her of having an intimate relationship with one of the VC’s co-workers.

An argument ensued between Wilson and the VC and Wilson threw some beer in the VC’s face in the presence of the co-worker she had accused the VC of being involved with.

Then, on Oct. 10, the VC was at work when the coworker informed her that Wilson had sent him nude photographs of her via WhatsApp.

The VC recognised some of the photos as being of her because they contained her face, tattoos and piercings.

The VC had known that Roberts had taken the photos without her permission and had threatened to post them on Facebook.

Then, on Oct. 11, several of the VC’s relatives and friends telephoned and informed her that Wilson had posted nude photos of the VC on her WhatsApp status.

The VC then received a screenshot of a Facebook post in which Wilson made the defamatory comment.

The VC told police that she felt hurt, embarrassed, violated and less of a woman because of the Facebook post.

Further, she is the only woman working at the place mentioned in the post that is known by the name mentioned. Additionally, she has a tattoo of the name.

The VC reported the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department and detective Constable 203 Gopaul investigated.

Wilson was taken into custody and volunteered a written statement admitting to making the Facebook post but denied sexual harassment by electronic communication.

Roberts was also taken into custody and admitted to the offences.

The court heard that after Roberts saw Wilson’s post, he sent her the nude photos of the VC.

Roberts also placed the photos and the VC’s number in a porn group on WhatsApp, resulting in over 1,000 people soliciting her.

At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, the defendants blamed each other for what had happened, with Wilson saying she did not ask Roberts to send her the photos.

Roberts blamed Wilson, saying he did not tell her to post them on WhatsApp.

In handing down her sentence, the senior magistrate noted that there are no guidelines for sentencing people for cybercrimes.

In the extant case, she used the guidance of the Jamaican case  Donovan Powell v the Queen, where the defendant had taken photos of the VC’s genitalia while she slept.

“I have heard both of you. Roberts, you said you want a chance — prison doesn’t agree with you,” Mc Kenzie said, adding that her duty is not only to hear the defendant.

“I have to consider the aims of sentencing, the effect on society, how you can be reformed and deter other people,” she said.

The senior magistrate said she found Roberts’ actions particularly egregious because there was no reason for him to act as he did.

She noted that Wilson had said that she did not ask for the photos.

“She decided to go on Facebook and defame the woman by saying [what she said]. You wanted to illustrate your intimate knowledge of [the VC] and decided to share those photos …

“I am not satisfied that you had any justification and by virtue of what you said, you know it was a situation that could not have been in any way at all in any favour of [the VC].

“You saw what Wilson posted and you thought, ‘Why not go a step further?’ You went and dropped it in porn chat and shared her number, which caused over 1,000 people to be messaging her.”

Roberts said that sending the images in a porn chat was “a mistake”.

“I am happy it was a mistake,” Mc Kenzie said.

“It is a mistake that I hope other people will learn from,” the magistrate said, adding that she does not fine people to “fatten the government coffer. I fine people for them to learn”.

But Roberts said he did not think that anything happened to the VC because of his action “because she is a bad girl”.

For distributing the photo, the magistrate fined Roberts EC$15,000 to be by Dec. 1, 2026, or one-year imprisonment, to run consecutive to the 9.5-month prison term.

On the second charge or transmitting the photo, the magistrate fined Roberts EC$10,000 to be paid by April 30, 2026, or a year imprisonment, consecutive to the other prison term.

“They need to do something about this default of a year,” she said, referring to the maximum sentence that defendants who fail to pay fines are ordered to pay.

Mc Kenzie also ordered Roberts to pay the VC compensation of EC$12,500 by Oct. 21, 2025, or spend an additional year in prison.

The magistrate noted that Wilson’s actions in making the Facebook post had spurred everything else.

“A man can’t be worth it. You see way you dey? Way the man?” the magistrate asked Wilson, who faced a maximum fine of EC$50,000 for her actions.

She ordered Wilson to pay the VC compensation of EC$14,000 by Sept. 30, 2025, or spend one year in prison.

“Pregnancy is no excuse,” the magistrate told Wilson as she made it clear that she, too, would serve a prison term and sentenced her to 9.5 months.

For distributing the images, she was fined EC$15,000, to be paid by Sept. 30, 2026, or one year in prison, consecutive to the other jail terms.

On the third charge, Wilson was fined EC$10,000 to be paid by March 31, 2027, or another year in prison.

The magistrate ordered that the time that the defendants had spent in prison be deducted from the 9.5-month prison term and that each sentence in default of payment of the fines or compensation run consecutive to that sentence.