By Alric Lindsay
Brandon Legister appeared before Magistrate Gunn in the Summary Court this week facing traffic charges and using an ICT Network to abuse, annoy, threaten or harass in the form of “revenge porn” by posting his ex-girlfriend’s photos online following their breakup. Legister was sentenced to 29 weeks in prison; however, this was suspended for two years. As such, he will not go to prison unless he is convicted of another crime during this time.
Background
According to the judgment, the parties had been in a relationship for 8 months when it ended in early February 2024.
During the relationship, Legister’s girlfriend sent explicit pictures of herself to him.
The evidence collected by the RCIPS proves beyond doubt that on March 27, 2024, Legister posted these pictures on the “Proxytwice” Instagram page, which he had created.
The following day, he posted a further pictorial collage of his ex-girlfriend’s explicit pictures on the same page. The existence of these images in the public domain came to the ex-girlfriend’s attention from reports made to her by several friends and family members. She immediately reported the matter to the police.
This is an act commonly known as “revenge porn” and this is the first time that any court in the Cayman Islands has had to sentence such an offence.
Legister pleaded guilty to the offence on his second appearance before the court (October 2024), thereby avoiding the need for the ex-girlfriend to give evidence of this distressing incident.
Before giving the sentence, Magistrate Gunn said she considered the local sentencing guidelines for this offence. In the immediate aftermath of the offence, the ex-girlfriend reported feeling fear, anxiety, persistent harassment, disrespect and overwhelming feelings of embarrassment.
Sentencing him, Magistrate Gunn said that the starting point of 15 months (65 weeks) was appropriate following the trial.
However, she gave him 5 months (22 weeks) credit for mitigating factors.
Additionally, he was given full credit for his early guilty plea, leading to a sentence of 29 weeks’ imprisonment.
Notwithstanding this, Magistrate Gunn considered the Alternative Sentence Act and determined his sentence should be suspended for two years.
In addition, she made the following Probation Order for two years with conditions that:
(i) He undertakes such programmes and counselling as directed by his probation officer
(ii) He completes 180 hours of Community Service within 12 months.
(iii) He is prohibited from contacting his ex-girlfriend in any way for the duration of the Probation Order; and
(iv) he is prohibited from posting any words or images about his ex-girlfriend on any social media platform.
