by Linda Straker
- John convicted for using social media platform to share sexual-related video
- Committed to His Majesty’s Prison to serve 11 months and 7 days
- Up to the time of imprisonment, John had paid only $600
Police said a 43-year-old woman who failed to pay a fine to court for violating the 2013 Electronic Crimes Act in 2020 was recently imprisoned.
On Friday, 5 May 2023, Mazenga John from St Mark was committed to His Majesty’s Prison to serve a term of 11 months and 7 days for non-payment of a fine after being convicted for Violation of Privacy.
The Electronic Crimes Act defines Violation of Privacy as knowingly or without lawful excuse or justification, capturing, publishing, or transmitting the image of an individual’s private area without his or her consent, under circumstances violating that individual’s privacy.
The law defines “transmit” as electronically sending a visual image with the intent that an individual or individuals view it. In contrast, “capture” refers to an image by videotape, photograph, film, or recorded by any means. The law further explains that “private area” means the naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast. “Publishes” means a reproduction in the printed or electronic form and making it available to the public.
After a female filed a complaint, John was convicted at the Gouyave Magistrate Court for using a social media platform to share a sexual-related video. She was found guilty, and the Magistrate ordered that she pay a fine of $25,000 by February 2023 or spend one year in prison. At the time of the conviction in February 2020, John was employed as a store clerk.
Violation of Privacy carries the maximum penalty of $200,000 in fine or imprisonment for 3 years, or both fine and imprisonment.
“Up to the time of her imprisonment, she had paid only $600,” said a news release from the Community Relations Department of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF).
