The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police is issuing a stern warning to members of the public to desist immediately from forwarding pornographic videos after a series of videos showing people in “compromising and vulnerable states” have begun circulating around on Social Networks and Social telephone apps.
It appears in some instances a few of these individuals may be under the age of consent and thus those images are classified as child abuse images or what is commonly known as child pornography.
‘Anyone in possession of these videos or pictures or who forwards them on in any format is committing offenses under the obscene publications Ordinance and upon summary conviction can be liable to a fine of $5,000 or a term of imprisonment of six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.’
The circulation of nude and explicit images including videos are much more common then most parents realize. Children under the age of consent with cellular phones are vulnerable to share these images with a friend who they think can be trusted. Once that photo is out there, it can be posted to a social website or sent to every cell phone in the school, across the country, and around the world.
We cannot tell people what to do during their sexual encounters, however, though, as an adult if you allow recording of the act it is important to be informed about revenge porn. Revenge Porn is defined as the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person without their consent via any medium and with the purpose of causing embarrassments or distress. The victims of this humiliating, unacceptable and degrading act can be any age, men or women. This practice has also been described as a form of Domestic violence and sexual abuse and is normally carried out by an ex-lover because a relationship has been terminated.
Police are urging anyone who have information of any nude images or pornographic videos circulating online, WhatsApp or Telegram and can assist in identifying either the people in the videos or those involved in their production or dissemination to contact the Sexual Offences Unit at 338-5901 or visit the Internet Watch Foundation Turks and Caicos Islands reporting Portal at http://www.report.iwf.org.uk/tc to report anonymously.
Turks and Caicos Islands Reporting Portal was established on June 1st to provide a quick and easy way for citizens to report online images and videos of child sexual abuse, to a safe and anonymous hotline. The Turks and Caicos Islands joined forces with the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) in the global battle to remove online of child sexual abuse imagery – and in doing so became part of a proud history.