A former B.C. couple faced off against each other in an intimate image legal fight after photos were shared without consent, and the victim claimed $50K in damages.
The respondent in the case agreed that he shared the images without consent, but says he didn’t intend for them to be posted online.
According to a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, the couple were former romantic partners and that during the relationship, the victim and applicant took several intimate photos of herself and sent them to the respondent.
She told the tribunal that the partner shared these images. The respondent said that he shared the images in private messages to users on an internet forum in 2023 without consent. The parties agreed that some of the images were posted on multiple websites, but the respondent denied he was the one who posted them.
The applicant first learned about the images in December 2023, but she didn’t learn about the respondent’s involvement until April 2026.
In the decision, the tribunal states that whether or not the respondent posted the images publicly, sharing them in private messages still meets the definition of ‘distributing’ under the Intimate Images Protection Act.
The victim said she was “living in fear and paranoia about strangers recognizing her, and about the images resurfacing and affecting her reputation in her personal life, work, and relationships.”
She provided evidence to the tribunal that multiple strangers contacted her about the images through Instagram, which she uses her legal name on. She provided evidence of 12 unique images of herself that were shared online.
There was one post that was active for approximately five days that reached over 30,000 views.
“Finally, the applicant suggests that the respondent may be selling her images online. She says she received 2 different messages from Instagram users saying that they had seen her images for sale. She says that her full name was used to sell the images, though she did not provide evidence of this. She says that the respondent is the only person who could have made her identity public,” the tribunal decision states.
The victim wasn’t able to prove that the respondent shared her name or profited from the images.
“Regardless of how others were able to identify and track down the applicant from the images, I find the fact that they were able to do so exacerbated the harm to the applicant,” the tribunal said.
The victim did not break down where the $50,000 came from, and the respondent did not dispute that he should pay some damages, but said that her amount was too high.
“He says that having to pay a large damages award may also impact his ability to continue to attend therapy, which he feels is an important part of keeping himself ‘on track,'” the tribunal decision states.
Looking at previous and related cases, the tribunal determined $50,000 was an appropriate amount.
Factoring in tribunal fees, the respondent was ordered to pay the victim $50,175 in damages within 60 days of the decision in the B.C. intimate image case.