Conditional discharge for publishing intimate image

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on November 16, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A woman who published intimate images of another woman engaged in a sexual encounter with the first woman’s common-law husband has avoided a jail sentence.

During her sentencing hearing Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court, Betty-Jo Healy was given a one-year conditional discharge. The discharge means Healy will avoid a sentence and criminal conviction unless she breaches any conditions set out in a probation order.

Crown Prosecutor Kristi Adams recommended Healy, 48, receive a jail sentence of one to two months with probation for one year. Adams said Healy’s actions were not simply impulsive but premeditated, and she had warned the other woman she would distribute the pictures if she didn’t stay away from her spouse.

Adams said Healy committed not only a sexual offence but an offence that “strikes at the core of a victim’s privacy interests.”

Lethbridge lawyer Cara Lebenzon recommended a conditional discharge with probation, and said while the charge of publishing intimate images without consent is serious, the actual offence is on the lower end of the scale.

Lebenzon said her client has suffered with mental health issues and alcohol addiction, and has been involved in a number of tumultuous relationships involving abuse and infidelity. On the day of the offence she had seen a picture on Snapchat of her spouse and the other woman together again, and in a cry for help as she contemplated suicide, sent the photo to a family member. From there the photo was distributed to others.

The charge stems from an incident in March 2021 when the complainant told police an intimate image of her and Healy’s spouse during a “one-night stand” had been leaked and shared by people on a messenger app. The picture had been taken by the spouse during the sexual encounter in July of 2020, but she didn’t become aware of the picture until the following August when Healy sent it to her in a text message, with a warning to stay away from her spouse or she would release the photo.

The complainant, who believed Healy and her spouse were no longer together at the time of the encounter, didn’t have any further contact with the man until December of 2020 when he told the woman he was no longer in a relationship with Healy. Three months later the two re-connected and the woman posted on Snapchat a picture of the two of them together.

On March 24, 2021 the woman received a text message from a friend who said she received a set of pictures, including one on Messenger showing the woman engaged in sexual activity with the man. The other picture was the same picture the woman had taken of her and Healy’s spouse when they had re-connected earlier in the month.

The following day the woman gave police a detailed statement and showed them the intimate photo. Police talked to the woman’s friend who said she received the photos from another friend, who received the photos from someone else, who received the photos directly from Healy. A message accompanying the photos called the victim a “homewrecker.”

Police spoke to Healy’s spouse, who admitted he used his cellphone to take a picture of the woman while they were engaged in sexual activity. Healy had searched through his phone and texted the pictures to her own phone.

Healy was arrested and charged in April 2021, and she pleaded guilty last August which, Judge Grace Auger said Tuesday, is “an expression of her remorsefulness and taking full responsibility for her actions.”

She noted Healy does not have a criminal record and her moral blameworthiness is low considering her personal circumstances and the circumstances surrounding the offence.

During her period of probation, Healy must continue counselling and not have any contact with the other woman.

Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter