CR27-611                   10/02/20

 

DISCLOSURE OF SEXUALLY EXPLICIT IMAGES WITHOUT CONSENT – 13 V.S.A. § 2606(b)(1)

 

            The State has charged (Def)_______________ with disclosure of sexually explicit images without consent, as follows:

            [Read the charge.]

            Every crime is made up of essential elements.  Before (Def)_______________ can be found guilty of the charge, the State must have proven each of the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt.  In this case, the essential elements are that on the date and at the place alleged,

(1)       (Def)_______________;

(2)       knowingly disclosed a visual image of an identifiable person [who is nude] [who is engaged in sexual conduct], without that person’s consent; ________________;

(3)       with the intent to [harm] [harass] [intimidate] [threaten] [coerce] the person depicted;

(4)       the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the image; and

(5)       the disclosure would cause a reasonable person to suffer harm.

            The first essential element is that (Def)_______________ is the person who committed the alleged acts.

The second essential element is that (Def)_______________ knowingly disclosed a visual image of an identifiable person [who is nude] [who is engaged in sexual conduct], without that person’s consent.  The term disclose means to transfer, publish, distribute, exhibit, or reproduce.  Visual image includes a photograph, film, videotape, recording, or digital reproduction.  A person may be identifiable from the image itself or information offered in connection with the image. 

[Nude means any one or more of the following uncovered parts of the human body: genitals; pubic area; anus; or post-pubescent female nipple.]

[Here the term sexual conduct is defined to mean any of the following:

(A) any conduct involving contact between the penis and the vulva, the penis and the penis, the penis and the anus, the mouth and the penis, the mouth and the anus, the vulva and the vulva or the mouth and the vulva;

 

(B) any intrusion, however slight, by any part of a person’s body or any object into the genital or anal opening of another with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desire of any person;

 

(C) any intentional touching, not through the clothing, of the genitals, anus or breasts of another with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desire of any person;

 

(D) masturbation;

 

(E) bestiality; or

 

(F) sadomasochistic abuse for sexual purposes.]

 

Consent means words or actions by a person indicating a voluntary agreement to do something or to participate in something.  “Consent” means consent of the will.  Lack of consent may be shown without proof of resistance.

[A disclosure is without consent if it is accomplished without the depicted person’s knowledge and specific permission.]  [A disclosure is without consent if the depicted person acquiesced in response to force, threat, or deception.  Force means constraining power, compulsion, or strength directed at another, to accomplish an end.  Threat means a declaration of intention or determination to inflict punishment, loss, or pain, on another, or to injure another by the commission of some unlawful act.  Deception is the act of deceiving; it is an intentional misleading by falsehood, spoken or acted.]  Consent to recording of the visual image does not, by itself, constitute consent for disclosure of the image. 

The State must have proven that (Def)_______________ disclosed the visual image knowingly, and not inadvertently, or because of mistake, or by accident.  You may find that (Def)_______________ acted knowingly if [he] [she] was aware that [his] [her] conduct would cause, or was practically certain to cause, disclosure of the image.

The third essential element is that (Def)_______________ acted with the intent to [harm] [harass] [intimidate] [threaten] [coerce] the person depicted.  A person acts intentionally if he or she acts purposely, and not inadvertently, because of mistake, or by accident.  You may find that [he] [she] acted with the requisite intent if it was [his] [her] conscious objective to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the person depicted.  The intent with which a person does an act may be shown by the way in which he or she expresses it to others, or by his or her conduct.  In determining (Def)_______________’s intent, you should consider all of the surrounding facts and circumstances established by the evidence.  [Harm means physical injury, financial injury, or serious emotional distress.]  [To harass another person means to intentionally engage in conduct that annoys the other person.  The conduct may be harassment if it tends to annoy, irritate, torment, or alarm the other person.]  [To intimidate means to unlawfully coerce or extort.]  [To threaten another person means to communicate, by words or by deeds, an intention to inflict harm upon that other person.]  [To coerce another person means to exert control over the other person to such an extent that it requires the other person to submit, and deprives [him] [her] of [his] [her] free will.  Coercion does not require physical force; it may be accomplished through psychological coercion alone.] 

The fourth essential element is that the person depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the image. This generally connotes a reasonable expectation of privacy within a person’s most intimate spheres. Privacy here does not mean the exclusion of all others, but it does mean the exclusion of everyone but a trusted other or few. For example, images involving voluntary nudity or sexual conduct in public or commercial settings are not subject to a reasonable expectation of privacy, nor are images that were previously distributed in a manner that undermined that expectation of privacy.

This is a purely objective standard. Your expectation-of-privacy determination should be based on what a reasonable person would think, not what the person depicted thought.

            The last essential element is that the disclosure would cause a reasonable person to suffer harm.  Harm means physical injury, financial injury, or serious emotional distress.

            All of the elements of the offense must have been present at the same time.  If the State has not proven each of the essential elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, then you must find (Def)_______________ not guilty.  However, if the State has proven all of the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt, you must return a verdict of guilty.