Sudbury man avoids jail after sharing intimate photos of woman
And if he stays out of trouble for the next two years, he won't have a criminal record
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A Sudbury man who posted intimate images of a former female friend during a social media group chat a year ago has avoided a criminal record, at least for now.
“I want to sincerely apologize for my actions,” Cory McIntyre, 26, told Ontario Court Justice Faith Finnestad in Sudbury court just before being issued a conditional discharge.
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He has pleaded guilty to publishing, distributing, transmitting, selling, making available or advertising an intimate image without consent.
“What I did was impulsive and I deeply regret it,” McIntyre told the court.
Justice Finnestad had been asked in a joint sentencing submission by the Crown and defence lawyer Michael Venturi to issue the conditional discharge. However, she told the court that “left to my own devices, this is not the sentence I would impose.”
Finnestad told McIntyre what he did was repulsive.
“This is such a violation that wouldn’t happen but for social media,” she said. “It’s so much easier on social media to just ‘send’ without taking responsibility for what happens. This is devastating. Please understand the seriousness and never let it happen again.”
The judge added that when the collage of images was shared in the group chat, those images could live on forever.
“There’s nothing to stop these (other) people … if they want to be nasty to her,” said Finnestad. “They could post it on the internet … She could be a 40-year-old mother (years from now) and naked pictures of her show up on the internet.”
The conditional discharge was issued along with a two-year probation order that includes the condition that McIntyre is to stay away from the victim.
McIntyre, who was accompanied in court by his mother, did not have a prior record.
If McIntyre stays out of the courts over the next two years, he will not have a criminal record.
The court heard that on Aug. 2, 2024, Greater Sudbury Police were informed McIntyre had shared five intimate images of a woman in a group chat on social media.
The photographs were believed to have been shot by the woman’s ex-partner. The five images showed the woman in various states of undress.
Police were told that when someone in the group chat told McIntyre he should not be showing the collage, he replied, “I posted it. I DC (don’t care).”
McIntyre was later arrested and charged.
Assistant Crown attorney Breanna Sheppard said the five images did not depict sexual activity or the woman being naked.
In his sentencing submission, Venturi said that no one in the group chat provided a statement to police about the incident.
“There is a lot of ambiguity to this,” he said, adding it would have been a difficult case for the Crown had it proceeded to trial.
Venturi said McIntyre, who lives with his mother and holds down two jobs, was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident in 2018. It left him with continuing pain and mental health issues, and he is still taking medication, he said.
The lawyer said the incident was out of character for his client, who, every Christmas, buys food and gifts for children in need because he understands that little acts of kindness can make a big difference in people’s lives.
Venturi said it was a comment about his late father during the group chat that served as a “trigger” for McIntyre posting the woman’s photo.
He said McIntyre intends to go back to school to pursue a career in security, something that could not be possible if he had a criminal record.
Sheppard, in her sentencing submission, said the plea of guilt meant that the woman did not have to testify in court. As well, the woman’s initial statement to police was lost.
“There were significant triable issues,” the assistant Crown attorney said.
X: @HaroldCarmichae
