New York City Makes 'Revenge Porn' A Crime

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City has made revenge porn a crime.

The city council voted Thursday afternoon to outlaw the sharing of intimate images without the consent of the subject.

It's a betrayal of trust by technology; intimate images shared on the internet without the consent of those pictured.

Nathaly Rodriguez said she was victimized by an ex-boyfriend who wanted to shame her.

"I was so depressed and so down. I just honestly, like I didn't want to see anybody, I was so embarrassed," she said.

It's long been a crime to secretly record explicit images.

If the subject willingly poses and shares the material with someone they trust. It's now illegal for anyone to disseminate it without permission.

"Many of these women are having their photos deliberately sent to their employers, their family members, their co-workers, as a means of causing them harm," Councilman Rory Lancman (D) said.

"Simply because the relationship has ended, out of spite and out of revenge," sex crime prosecutor Eric Rosenbaum said.

Hence the nickname 'revenge porn.'

There also dozens of websites where such images are posted. Sometimes with additional identifying information.

That's what happened to Nathaly Rodriguez.

"So he posted the video that he recorded of me on a porn website with information about me so people would know who the girl was in the video," Rodriguez said.

The law passed unanimously and makes spreading revenge porn a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.

New York City has joined 35 states and the district of Columbia in criminalizing such activity.

The law may soon go statewide. Lawmakers will use it as a template and push for approval the legislature in Albany.

The bill also creates a 'civil cause of action' so revenge porn victims can sue for damages.