Under new law, ‘revenge porn’ is now a crime in the Palmetto State
COLUMBIA, S.C. - (WRDW/WAGT) Until just this month, a person in South Carolina could share intimate images of someone else without their consent and face no criminal penalties.
It’s often referred to as “revenge porn” – and experts say it’s probably a lot more common than you realize.
But a bill ed unanimously by the General Assembly is targeting the problem.
“To protect the dignity, privacy, and reputations of people from others who seek to harm them or just are careful not to harm them,” Gov. Henry McMaster said.
And it took a few years of work to get to this point.
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“Had it not been for the attorney general coming to us — through the process, and that’s what the process is there for — coming to us and telling us about it, this would’ve never happened,” said Rep. Chris Wooten, R-Lexington, the bill’s lead sponsor.
It’s now a crime in South Carolina to intentionally disseminate an intimate photo or video or a digitally forged intimate image of another person without their consent.
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That includes AI-generated images made to look like real photos of an identifiable person.
“Back in the day, you would’ve never thought that we would have to address issues like this, but this is now the day we live in,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said.
Two years ago, South Carolina enacted a law criminalizing sexual extortion which is when someone threatens to release private images of another person if that person doesn’t do what they want – like pay them or perform certain acts.
That legislation is called “Gavin’s Law” – in honor of the late teenage son of state Rep. Brandon Guffey. The teenager took his life after being sexually extorted.
But under that earlier law, there must be blackmail involved for the actions to rise to the level of a crime.
“I want to continue to, just like the other folks up here, to protect our — not only our daughters and wives and significant others, but our sons, too,” Guffey said.
Under this new law, convictions could land someone in prison for years – with potential time behind bars increasing if they do it again – or if they meant to cause harm to the victim.
“We’re trying to blanket the landscape in this area to protect our people,” McMaster said.
A new law called the “Take It Down” Act targets these crimes at the federal level too.
As S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson notes, the state’s penalties under the state law are tougher than the federal one.
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